


Enhanced

by supportingcharacters (orphan_account)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Cyborgs, Future AU, M/M, everyones in this tbh, more relationships to be added?, tagged are the Main ones but everyones here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-23
Updated: 2014-07-23
Packaged: 2018-01-13 02:45:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 42,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1209835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/supportingcharacters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marco Bodt is a human being scientifically modified - "man-made evolution," according to Dr Hange. What that really means, is that he is part of the Enhanced - a group of humans with metal in their bones and circuits in their bodies, enhanced by the power of science.</p><p>Jean Kirschtein is an Unenhanced human, forced to live in the overcrowded wreck of a city, looked down upon as "sub-human" by the Enhanced. No rights, no money and no incredible abilities unlike the amazing Enhanced, every day is a struggle.</p><p>They're as different as black and white, ice and fire, heaven and hell. But, in a strange twist their paths end up crossing when Jean is employed as a servant for the wealthy Bodt family. By law they shouldn't even interact, and Jean really shouldn't even like Marco - but Jean has never been good at following the rules.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Caelum:** /ˈkɛː.lũ/  
noun  
   1. Sky, heaven

 **Terra** /ˈter.ra/  
noun  
   1. Land, earth, ground  
   2. The world

* * *

 

 

 

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”

-Oscar Wilde

* * *

 

 

Sunlight poured into the room as the curtains were thrown open. That was what made Marco stir from his sleep, blearily opening an eye. The dream he had been having slipped away from his mind. For a moment he tried to remember it; it had been a good dream. That much he remembered. But no, it was gone.

He blinked his eye a few times, rubbing the sleep away from it. From the amount of light pouring in through the large window in his bedroom, he knew it must be morning. He had classes in a couple hours but…his bed was so warm…Marco let his eye shut again, and he snuggled down into the pillows once more.

“Wake up, Bodt,” came a familiar female voice.

Marco looked up from his swaddle of blankets at the speaker. That was odd; she rarely woke him up. Usually it was one of the Unenhanced maids who politely woke him up every morning, not her.

“Ymir?” he asked. Sure enough, there she was; his cousin.

“Yeah it’s me. Now, get your ass out of bed, Marco.” He saw her roll her eyes. “Yeah, it’s early, but my mother got back early and wants to see you before classes. And oh yeah, your dad wants to talk with you too.”

Ymir’s mother was one of the seniors in the security branch of the government. She had spent the weekend on Terra, the city on the ground. It was odd; usually she went for a week or two at a time; rarely for just two days.

And Marco’s father…he wanted to speak to him. That usually never went down well. Marco groaned a little. More reason to stay in bed. “Tell them I’m sick,” he said, pulling the blankets over his head.

“Hell no,” Ymir replied, crossing her arms. “According to your dad, this morning we’re eating breakfast _as a family._ ” The sarcasm was dripping from her voice. “I’m not sitting through a meal with them alone.”

Marco shook his head, even though Ymir couldn’t see him underneath his wrappings. He was so warm and comfortable and sleepy…why couldn’t she leave him alone? Maybe if he kept refusing she would grow bored.

“Oh, Marco,” he heard her say. He frowned; she was using _that_ tone of voice, the tone she used when she was up to no good… “Don’t you know by now that you can’t, uh, _physically_ resist me?”

Marco groaned again. Ymir smirked, outstretching her arm and splaying her palm in the direction of the pile of blankets that Marco was hiding under. “When I can control metal,” she said, brow furrowing slightly. She could feel the hunk of metal in Marco’s side; she could feel it even though she couldn’t see it. She closed her fist, securing her mental hold on it. “You can’t escape me when you have a metal arm!” She gave a tug in her direction.

Like a fish on a hook, Marco was yanked forward, arm first. He lurched forward, blankets and all, Ymir’s metal force pulling his arm. He came right off of the bed, hitting the floor with a thud muffled by the blankets. He grunted, a curse slipping from his lips as Ymir howled with laughter.

“You,” Marco said, as he slowly untangled himself from the pile of blankets on the floor. “Are a bully.”

That only made Ymir laugh even harder. “Dumbass,” she muttered under her breath, hands resting on her hips. After a moment, she extended her hand. Marco reached out with his left hand, letting her help him to his feet.

Now upright, he flexed his right hand. Despite Ymir being able to take complete control of it whenever she wanted to, it didn’t feel any different. He opened and closed his fist; yes, his fingers still worked fine.

Like all Enhanced people, Marco was…modified. Man-made evolution, as Dr. Hange put it. From birth, the Enhanced had operations to improve their bodies. As well as flesh and blood, they had metal and circuits, modified organs, heightened senses, stronger bodies.

And then, there were the abilities.

Most people had unique abilities; chosen by their parents. All though the initial operations to be enhanced happened at birth, when a child was eight or nine, they were operated on again. These operations resulted in special abilities.

For Ymir, special minerals were sent into her bloodstream, as well as thin metal plating under her skin.  By concentrating, these minerals would gather under one of the metal plates, effectively turning it into a powerful magnet. Wherever she focused then, she could control and manipulate the metal. A tap could destroy a huge metal gate; a gentle touch could mold steel as if it was clay. And a tug could send a teenage boy tumbling out of bed.

It was the same ability his father had, and it was incredibly powerful and effective. So much so, she didn’t even need a secondary ability. Marco almost envied her strength.

“I’ll leave you alone to get dressed,” she said, stepping over the blankets and towards the bedroom door. “See you at breakfast.”

Marco peeled off the shirt he wore in bed, heading towards the shower in the en suite bathroom. He suppressed a yawn; it was too early for this. Though, if he got back into bed Ymir would doubtlessly tug him out of it again.

He looked at his shirtless form in the bathroom mirror. He scanned his reflection. He had his arm like this for nearly a decade now, but he didn’t think he would ever get used to looking at it. His eyes ran over the place where smooth freckled skin ran into cool, dark steel. The plates of the strong metal overlapped slightly, so that although the metal was strong, his movement wasn’t restricted.

He clenched his hand into a fist, grinning as he felt the circuits hidden behind the metal hum with power. Ymir might be able to bring down any metal structure with a flick of her wrist, but Marco was fairly sure he could bring one down with the strength in his arm.

His grin faded slightly as his gaze travelled up his reflection, landing on the dark eye-patch covering his right eye. Unfortunately, his father had deemed it prudent that he got a second ability, and unfortunately, the second operation wasn’t as successful as the first.

With a small sigh, Marco climbed into the shower, sighing in content as the hot water finally woke him up.

♛ ♛ ♛ 

Fifteen minutes later, he was sitting down at the breakfast table. As usual with his family, things were too awkward and formal to be comfortable. The table was very large, too big for just five of them. Marco had seen it seat over twenty before. At the head of the table sat his father, a serious and intimidating man – as fitting, for someone of his rank. At the other end sat his mother. She was as beautiful as ever, but growing more distant with each passing day. Marco couldn’t remember the last time they spoke; she seemed so far away most of the time he wondered if she even knew he was there.

His aunt Ilse – Ymir’s mother – sat beside his father, completely at ease. Confident and beautiful and just as intimidating as her older brother, Marco couldn’t help but smile a little as he looked at her. She was everything he aimed to be; confident, strong, cheerful and independent. He admired his aunt a lot, and got along with her much better than he did with his own mother.

He sat in the middle of the table, with Ymir facing him. It was clear she didn’t want to be there. She sat, barely eating and playing with her food, twisting her bacon around with her fork.

Nobody spoke. Marco’s father was reading the morning papers, his mother was quiet, as usual. Ilse sat, as if waiting for her brother to say something. The other people in the room; the Unenhanced servants, stood quietly at the walls. Marco knew that the slightest motion would have them come forward, head bents respectfully and fearfully, to serve.

Marco looked expectantly from his father to Ilse. When he caught Ilse’s eye, she just gave him a wink.

Eventually, Marco’s father put his newspaper down. “I hear you and your classmates are going to Terra.” It wasn’t a question.

Marco nodded slowly. His father frowned, eyebrows tugging down into a disapproving expression. “Why?” he asked. “I don’t particularly want you…down _there_.”

“We’ve discussed this,” Ilse said, her smile wavering and her voice sounding almost weary. “Kids these days have the privilege of spending all of their time up here on Caelum. They have no experience with the… _Unenhanced_.” Isle said it as if it was a dirty curse word. “And in a few years, Marco will have taken over your position as head of security. How do you expect him to carry out that role if he can’t deal with _them_?”

Another thing Marco admired about Ilse was her usual sunny disposition. Ilse had one of the toughest jobs in the security department. Marco’s father was the head of security; he was in charge of certain branches of the Military Police, the protection of the King, and the protection of the Enhanced from the Unenhanced.

Ilse, although she wasn’t as senior in the department as her brother, had a harder job. Much of her job involved spending time down on Terra, interacting with the horrible Unenhanced; making them bend to the rules and punishing those who didn’t. It was her job to make sure they knew their place. It was increasingly difficult, from what Marco heard. There always had been attempts on her life; the Unenhanced _hated_ her (how they could, Marco never knew how; sure she was strict, but she wasn’t unreasonable). Ilse was strong though, she always dealt with them easily. Recently though, there had been rumors of a revolution. Riots had been breaking out more and more often, led by a group calling themselves Survey.

Yet, despite all of these stresses, she never failed to be cheery and bright. Marco rarely saw her without a smile on her face, it was one of the reasons he loved her. Now, though, she seemed weary, badly concealed stress was visible behind her tired attempt of a smile. Maybe, Marco thought, these rumors about a revolution weren’t just rumors. He didn’t worry too much though; even if she was more tired because of it, he didn’t think for a moment she couldn’t handle it. No matter how unruly these Unenhanced were being, Ilse would be able to keep them under control.

His father looked sternly down at his sister. “They have experience dealing with the Unenhanced,” he said, waving a hand in a vague gesture around the room.

Ilse shook her head, and Marco caught Ymir rolling her eyes. “They have experience dealing with these quiet Unenhanced servants, who know their place. They have no clue what it’s like down below, in Terra. Neither do you, if you think experience with these,” Ilse mimicked his gesture, motioning towards the Unenhanced servants standing at the walls, “is enough.”

From the glare he fixed his sister with, he wasn’t impressed. He opened his mouth, about to say something, but he was interrupted by his wife. “Please stop arguing, dear,” she said softly. “You know it’s necessary. All of this protesting is useless.”

Marco’s father said nothing. “She’s right,” Ilse said quietly.

He sighed, and suddenly looked older than he was. “I know. I just…don’t like the thought of Marco down there with _them_.” He rubbed his temples slowly.

“I’ll be fine, father,” Marco put in, speaking for the first time.

Ilse nodded. “That’s why I was down over the weekend, remember? You’re not the only one with worries. We’ve been setting up extra security, and there are two squads of Military Police officers whose priority is to guard the students. Besides, even if they were alone, I doubt any of them could lay a finger on these two. Or any of the other students, for that matter.”

His father sighed again, nodding curtly. “I’m just worrying,” he said, more to himself than anyone else. He looked over at Marco, smiling a little. “Forgive your old man for fretting. You’re eighteen now. You can look after yourself, I daresay.”

Marco grinned himself, nodding his head. A lot of the time, his father commanded an intimidating presence, keeping everyone near him – including his only son – on their toes. Sometimes though, he showed his softer side. Marco’s chest swelled with pride at his vote of encouragement.

“Still, I’d like to speak to you before you leave.” Marco nodded, draining the last of his coffee. “Come to my office before you head out this morning.” His father stood up, nodding at Marco and patting Ilse’s shoulder gently before leaving the table. Marco finished up soon after, leaving the dining room. Ymir followed him.

They were both in the same year at school. In Caelum, everyone went to school until they were eighteen. Once they graduated, kids had a number of choices: become assistants to their parents, learning the ways of their job before eventually taking over from them. Enlist in the Military Police. Or become a civil servant, and eventually become a teacher or a doctor or a number of other professions.

For Marco, it wasn’t a choice. Not really; he would have to take over his father’s job of head of security. He didn’t mind much; he always wanted to serve the King. In a number of years, he would be protecting him.

The trip down to Terra, the city on the ground where the Unenhanced lived, had been planned for weeks. Despite it, according to officials like Ilse and the teachers, being crucial for young Enhanced to have experience down there, many parents had been outraged, forbidding their children to go.

Terra…it wasn’t like Caelum. It was full of poverty, inhabited only by the Unenhanced. Slums were everywhere, and according to rumors when you went down you would sometimes see bodies in the street, where people had starved to death. Marco figured it was just a rumor though; besides, did it really matter much? They were only Unenhanced people, after all.

The Unenhanced were...different. According to his father, they were "cheap imitations of human beings." At heart they were cruel and harsh, and they hadn't evolved as much as the Enhanced, so they couldn't undergo any of the operations or enhancements they did. And because they were instinctively evil, or something, they had to be kept under strict rule. They were far below the level of the Enhanced, or anyone living in Caelum.

“Is Historia coming?” he asked Ymir.

Ymir scoffed at him. “Oh yeah, like the fucking Princess is coming down to Terra.”

“Well,” Marco said, raising his hands. “She’ll be the Queen someday. Doesn’t she need experience with the Unenhanced?”

Ymir shrugged. “I don’t know the fucking details. Who cares anyway? She’ll get plenty of experience when she’s older.”

Marco nodded. He supposed that was true enough.

He ran back to his room, quickly brushing his teeth and changing his eye patch before grabbing his schoolbag. It was filled with large books, but he didn’t even feel the weight as he slung the bag over his right shoulder.

Running back down the grand staircase, he stopped outside his father’s office. Taking a deep breath, he knocked a few times on the door. “Come in,” his father said almost immediately.

The office, like everything else in their house, was grand. A long rectangular room, one wall was completely made out of glass, offering a view of Caelum stretched out in front of him. The sun glinted off of the buildings, and hovercars weaved in between the clouds. The opposite wall was filled floor to ceilings with shelves, stacked with books and documents. Knowing Marco’s father, each document, volume, or file was stacked in perfect alphabetical order.

Facing Marco, reclining behind an oak and glass desk, was his father. Jeremiah Bodt was tall and built strongly, just like his son. Although they shared the same dark skin, freckles and dark hair, he lacked the warmth Marco had. More often than not, he was frowning, whereas Marco rarely was seen without a smile. He was somebody who demanded respect and attention, somebody you didn’t want to cross.

He studied Marco for a moment, before his expression softened. He wasted no time in getting to the point. “I want you to keep your wits about you today,” he said. “I know you’ll be protected, but you need to remember; on the ground, it’s a different world. A different world, with different rules. The Unenhanced…they aren’t like us. They’re savages, who will rip you to shreds if you leave yourself exposed.”

He shook his head a little at that. “I’m sorry, that was an exaggeration. But I do mean it; use your brains and stick with your group. If you wander off alone and into the wrong part of town, you could be in danger.”

Marco nodded silently, his mouth dry. Despite his father’s warnings, he was excited. He had grown up hearing about Terra, the terrible city underneath Caelum. He had heard the rumors, rumors about the wild and savage Unenhanced, rumors about criminals and the crimes they did to each other. It was scary, of course; a few well behaved Unenhanced lived in the mansion, ones that were always respectful and knew their place. Going into a city full of Unenhanced where they might not be as respectful…no wonder the parents weren’t happy. But despite this, Marco couldn’t suppress his excitement. He would finally be able to see it for himself.

“And if you do get into any difficulty, which I’m positive you won’t…” his father pushed up his shirt sleeve slightly, tapping at the dial fixed into his right wrist. “You know what to do.”

Marco nodded again.

The main difference with the Unenhanced was that they hadn’t any modifications. Their organs weren’t as strong, their bones weren’t as strong, and their senses weren’t nearly as strong. They had no special abilities, and were prone to sickness and disease.

The only modification they had were the collars.

At birth, every Unenhanced child was fitted with a special collar. These collars were fixed right into their very skin; impossible to take off. It was a measure taken to keep them under control.

One of the modifications every Enhanced child went through was an operation on the eyes and wrist. They could focus their non-dominant eye and zoom in to focus on people or objects. Everyone also had a special dial fixed into their wrists, going from zero to ten.

By switching this dial onto one of the numbers and focusing in on any Unenhanced, all they had to do was bring their thumb and index finger together. The collar of the unlucky Unenhanced would emit an electric shock. The severity of the shock depended on the number the dial was at; one meant a small but sharp pang, nine was agonizingly painful. Ten would kill in an instant.

Marco wasn’t sure of the technology behind it – as far as he knew, it was something to do with their eyes giving off signals when they focused on an Unenhanced – but he knew that it was one of their most effective weapons. Just by looking at them and tapping their fingers together, they could bring an Unenhanced person to their knees.

Luckily Marco never was in a situation where he had to use his before. Still, it was reassuring to know that if an Unenhanced person ever got too close…he would be able to deal with it without even needing his main abilities.

“If you’re in danger,” Marco’s father continued. “Please, don’t hesitate to use your dial. It’s there for a reason, after all.”

“Yes, father.” Marco pushed his own shirt sleeve up a little. There, in the smooth expanse of his metal skin, was the little dial, currently at zero. He ghosted his fingers over it.

“One of the things you need to learn is how to use it without mercy,” continued his father. “I’ve been in situations where if I hesitated, I could have died. You’ll be safe today Marco, but there’s something you need to remember; the Unenhanced may not be as strong as us, but they’re still very, very dangerous.”

***

“You’re not turning yours on?” Marco asked, as he leaned down to flick the tiny switch built into his ankles. Immediately he felt the familiar hum in the soles of his feet.

Ymir gave a shrug in response. “I won’t need it. I won’t fall. And even if I did, I can save myself.” She flexed her fingers, and Marco nodded. It was true; she didn’t need her magnetism turned on when she could create the same effect herself.

The wind blew softly through the city. Caelum was the first city like this, suspended in the sky. All of the buildings started off in Terra, of course, but they were so incredibly tall that from here, you could only see Terra on cloudless days. Each building was hundreds and hundreds of floors tall. The Bodt family mansion resided in the penthouse of one of these buildings.

Of course, they needed a way to move from one building to the other. Light walkways made out of a special metal wound between all of the buildings. Of course, as an extra precaution, another modification they had since birth was magnetism in their feet.

All Enhanced were required to turn it on when using these walkways. By switching the magnets in the soles of their feet on, they stayed on the walkways, and there was no chance of plummeting to your death.

Ymir walked out onto the narrow pathway. They were all one way, and wide enough for two people to walk side by side. “You coming?” she asked, turning and tapping her foot impatiently. “Or are you gonna stand there all day?”

Marco rolled his eyes before following her. She walked much quicker than him and he struggled to keep up with her as they made their way to the skyline stop. Though, that probably had to do with the fact that she didn’t have her magnetism turned on. Sure, magnetism was a safety precaution and all, but it slowed you down a bit, making you drag your feet as you walked.

Ten minutes later and they were at the Skyline stop. The Skyline was a method of public transportation, a high speed train that all but flew around the city on tracks made out of the same materials as the pathways.

As soon as he boarded, Marco heard them.

“Heeeeeeey, Marco! Over here!” Sasha leaned to the side, one hand clutching the handrail and the other waving madly. Marco could hear Ymir sigh. “That idiot,” she mumbled under her breath.

Marco grinned, making his way over to his friends. Connie was beside Sasha, grinning widely. “Today’s the day, dude! We get to see down below!”

The Skyline was packed with students heading to school. Marco wedged in between them to reach his friends, while Ymir elbowed everyone out of her way. “You’d want to be careful, blockhead,” she said. “Knowing you, you’ll go out and get yourself killed by some thug.”

“Yeah right!” Connie said back. Marco took a hold of the handrail with his left hand. “If any of them tried anything, I’d send their ass back to hell!” he boasted loudly.

Sasha giggled beside him. “More like you’d run away and scamper up a tower back to Caelum.”

Marco laughed while Connie looked betrayed. “Sasha! You’re meant to be on my side here!”

Marco’s gaze fell on Connie’s hands. Both were covered in the same type of metal his arm was made of, but with different purposes. Marco’s arm was incredibly strong, whereas Connie’s hands and feet could act with a sort of suction function. Marco had seen him run up walls and across ceilings. Marco also knew that if he needed to, Connie probably _could_ run up a building back to Caelum.

“Please, Connie, I’m always on your side…at least, most of the time.” Sasha giggled again, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “Anyway, what about you Marco? Excited?”

Marco shrugged and smiled. “I guess, I mean…we’ve grown up hearing about Terra and now we finally get to see it!”

Ymir gave a drawn out sigh. “I’m surrounded by idiots,” she muttered under her breath. “If you heard half the stories my Mom told be about Terra, you wouldn’t be so damn excited.”

Connie scoffed. “You’re just jealous because Histo- shit! I mean, you’re just jealous because _Krista_ isn’t coming.”

Ymir elbowed him in the ribs. “Shut it, Springer.”

♛ ♛ ♛ 

The day passed by slowly. They all had morning classes and weren’t going down to Terra until the afternoon. They weren’t going down for very long, Marco noted with slight disappointment. As far as he knew, they were getting a brief tour of the main city. There was tension in the air, all of the students glancing at their watches every five minutes. Although they all had been drilled to be on their best behavior – after all, it was dangerous down there – everyone was excited.

Finally, two o’ clock came.

The first class of thirty had to meet in the school hall. Because it would be much too difficult to bring the whole year down at once, they were going in classes; Marco’s class was first this week, another class next week, and so-on, until they all had made the trip down. Although there were usually thirty in the class, only nineteen students were going; many parents simply refused to let their children go.

He stood with Connie and Sasha as the principal of the school gave them a lecture on how well they needed to behave down below. “Pity Armin isn’t in this class,” Connie murmured. “He’d love this. He’s always going on about how he wants to find out more about the Unenhanced.”

Sasha shrugged, steadily making her way through a can of potato chips. “He’ll be going next week,” she said. “He’ll get over it.”

Marco nodded. “Pity His-uh, Krista couldn’t come.”

Now it was Connie’s turn to shrug. “Don’t think she cares much, man. Besides, she’ll have time for that when she’s older.”

The principal wrapped up his lecture, and they left the school. They all boarded the Skyline to the Admin towers. The journey only must have taken five minutes, but it stretched on forever. Marco stared listlessly out of the windows. He could see right down today; aside from a few wispy things, there were barely any clouds. He could see the dark of the city below. Because Terra was on the ground, and because all of the buildings rose so high into Caelum, it was often shrouded in shadow. The only time you could really see it was at night, when the lights were just about visible from up here.

Marco had spent many cloudless nights looking down at the lights dotted on the ground like stars, wondering what it was like down there. No matter what Ilse said about Terra, it certainly looked beautiful from a distance.

As did everything, he supposed.

An eternity of five minutes later, the Skyline pulled up at the spot outside of the Admin towers. The Admin towers were three buildings, huge even on a Caelum level. Hundreds of offices ran in these buildings; nearly all of the government departments ran from here. Marco could see them in the windows as he stepped out onto the walkway, flicking his magnetism on. Countless people flitting about, busy as ever.

The Admin towers also had the fastest gravity pods in the city. Gravity pods were essentially elevators; except huge ones, that could fit up to fifty people at a time. And instead of moving between floors, gravity pods transported people at high speeds from Caelum to Terra.

Four members of the Military Police stood at the entrance to the pod as they boarded. They checked their fingerprints quickly with scanners as they boarded – each Enhanced person had a lot of data stored through their fingerprints. A scan would bring up all the information about a person on a computer; name, date of birth, family records, criminal records, even a photo. The process usually only took thirty seconds.

Needless to say, they had to be careful about who they let on to these pods. Security was very tight.

Finally, the nineteen students and the teachers accompanying them had boarded. Marco stood beside Connie and Sasha. “So…” he said, glancing around. “I presume those Military Police squads are meeting us at the bottom?”

He was excited of course. But also, a little nervous. He wouldn’t admit it though.

Connie shrugged. One of the boys standing beside Marco turned to him. Thomas Wagner, that was his name. Marco didn’t know him that well. “Wait a second, there’s two Military Police squads accompanying us?” He groaned. His friend beside him, Nack, sighed.

“That means there’s no chance of any fun down there,” he said, shaking his head.

Marco quirked an eyebrow. “Fun?”

“What do you mean by “fun?”” came another voice, taking the words out of Marco’s mouth. He looked up to see another classmate, Marlowe Freudenberg approaching them, fists clenched and eyes narrowed.

Thomas raised an eyebrow before laughing. He tapped the dial on his wrist. “Me and Nack were planning to get away for a while, test out our dials.”

“See if they’re as effective as everyone says they are,” Nack added.

Marlowe frowned, glowering at the two. Marco was a little taken aback himself. “You mean you were going to take innocent people and put them through the pain of your dials?” He was clearly disgusted.

Nack was unfazed. “Well…we could use practice, right? This whole thing is for experience, I don’t see how much experience we can get without using our dials.”

It was almost like Marlowe was trying to prevent himself from yelling, he looked furious. He was another kid Marco didn’t know too much about. He knew he was a hard worker, one of the ace students in the class, but his knowledge of him ended there. “Regardless,” he hissed. “You would do that to another, innocent, human being?”

Nack and Thomas burst out laughing. Marco cracked a smile himself, and he could see Sasha and Connie suppressing giggles. “Calm down, dude!” Thomas managed eventually, after regaining some composure. “I mean, they’re only the Unenhanced!”

Marlowe scowled. “They’re humans too.”

Connie rolled his eyes. “If you love them so much, why don’t you go live in Terra?”

Marlowe’s chest seemed to swell with pride. “I’m going to wait until I get a position in government,” he said. “Then I’m going to start a campaign about their rights, so that ignorant fools like you can’t mindlessly hurt them.”

Thomas scoffed. Marco bit on his lip to prevent himself from laughing. This Marlowe guy was supposed to be smart, but if he was coming out with stuff like this…it was lucky that nobody apart from them five were hearing this. Otherwise, he’d probably be sent to a doctor.

“Good luck with that,” Nack said, snorting into his hand. Sasha gently took Marco and Connie’s elbows and led them away. “C’mon,” she whispered. “We don’t want to be seen involved with someone like him.”

Once out of earshot, they fell into laughter.

And then, one of the Policemen was yelling, saying the pod was launching and instructing them to hold onto the handrails. Marco grasped a nearby one, about to say something to Connie when suddenly, the floor dropped.

Of course, it was just the pod descending. But the initial speed took him by surprise; it was far faster than any elevator. And longer too; he looked outside of the windows and saw Caelum disappear. First, the high class parts of the buildings zipped away. The further down they went the less wealthy the city was. Marco could feel the pressure building up in his ears.

About five minutes later they entered that in between zone; the parts of the buildings between Caelum and Terra. Nearly all of these, he knew, were used as army barracks. Another few minutes to go.

His ears popped, and he muttered a curse under his breath. He looked at his friends; Sasha’s face was pressed against the glass, barely holding on as she drank in every detail outside of the window. Connie looked faintly green, as if he might get sick at any moment.

And then suddenly; they were in Terra. Marco could see it; the lower parts of the buildings. He knew from Ilse that most of the Unenhanced lived in the tiny buildings around the city; they weren’t allowed into the huge skyscrapers that reached Caelum. Despite it being the afternoon, it was already dark. The skyscrapers of Caelum blocked out most of the light.

The Unenhanced were everywhere. It was surreal. Up on Caelum, nearly all of the Enhanced had metal encasing some part of their bodies. Here though, there were masses of them, the only metal being the collar around their necks.

They were all so pale. And thin. And there were so many of them; Marco had only ever seen a handful at a time.

And unlike the ones who worked as servants in Caelum, these didn’t look so friendly.

The pod came to a shuddering stop, and Marco was able to get a better look at them. They glanced at the pod as they walked past, distrust in their eyes. He watched them as they went by; kept a safe distance from the pod by the Military Police; first, a boy with strikingly green eyes. He slowed as he passed, pointing at the pod. A girl wearing a ratty red scarf beside him quickly pulled him along before he caught the attention of the policemen. On the other side, Marco noticed a young man with dirty blond hair shaved into an undercut help a younger woman cross the street. He guessed that they were related, due to their resemblance.

Looking back to the window closest to him, Marco saw a trio on the other side of the street point to them. A young woman with blonde hair made a gesture. Two men beside her; both at least half her height taller than her leant down to listen as she whispered something.

No matter where he looked, they all had the same hardened expressions. They all looked tough and…unhappy. And despite the lack of metal on their bodies, despite the telltale collars around their necks, they all looked dangerous.

The glass doors to the pod swung open. Just outside, the two squads of Military Police were waiting. “Ah, you finally got here!” their leader greeted. “Welcome to Terra.” His lips pulled up into a wry smile. “Welcome to hell.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here it is............the first chapter.................................................  
> okay so im mega pumped for this so im gonna try my best to update and get it finished! thanks for reading, pls tell me what you think! concrit is valued u_u


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, you do bad things because of the people you love.  
> Sometimes, you do bad things for the people you love.
> 
> Marco begins to learn that maybe he's not as okay with the system as he once was. Jean doesn't want to work for some Enhanced family, but he'll do anything for his remaining family.

“We are the choices we make. And have to make. We aren’t anything else.”

-Patrick Ness

* * *

 

Marco’s father had told him once, that flying was the one thing humans had always strived to do. The Old Ones had made clunky, awkward machines; airplanes, they had been called. But they had no grace; there was no elegance or subtlety in the way in which those machines had thundered across the sky.

Later, the Enhanced had improved on those airplanes; making smaller, quicker, more graceful machines that glided through the air. Some of the Enhanced even had abilities that allowed them to fly. But, his father had explained, humans were only ever allowed to fly because of technology; they would never be able to fly without it, to fly naturally. “We are the ultimate life forms, on this Earth,” he had said. “Yet we still envied birds, and the way flying is second nature to them. We would always reach for the sky, though. That’s why we built Caelum – a city among the clouds.”

“And the Unenhanced,” he had added in a darker tone, “Are the ones whose own greed and laziness prevent them from becoming great like us. Their own sins and characteristics are what chain them to the ground.”

At the time, young Marco hadn’t understood what his father had meant. They had Unenhanced staff working in their very home, after all – how were they chained to the ground? Still, his father’s words had stuck with him. He often spent time gazing out of the great glass windows in his home; or walking along the walkways and looking down. He had always loved Caelum, and the higher he was, the better. He loved the open sky, he loved looking at the clouds below and around him, and he loved the sense of freedom that came with it.

How amazing, he had often wondered, would it be to jump off into the open air, and glide around the sky, as free as a bird? Without any sort of vehicle, or Enhanced ability; to just naturally take to the air, and glide among the winds.

Sadly, it was a question that would never be answered. He had tried to convince his parents to let him get an ability that would allow him to fly. They had refused, on the basis that in his future line of work, there would be no need for flying; abilities that would let him fight were what he really needed.

Still, he had always loved Caelum, even if he would never be able to fly. He adored looking down from the highest spot he could get to, and see the world spread out underneath him. He loved the way the sky looked at night, when he was out walking among the stars. He loved the gentle breeze up there, loved the way the world would rush by below as he zoomed across on the skyline, he loved it all. Caelum was like some sort of heaven to him.

This could explain why he immediately didn’t like Terra. Caelum was bright, beautiful, clean, and safe. Terra was anything but. The great glass and metal structures up in Caelum started here, but down here they were ugly concrete masses. Marco guessed he could understand the logic behind it; with buildings as tall as these, they needed strong bases, right? Still, they were an eyesore; made uglier by all of the graffiti scrawled across them.

Insults to the Enhanced, mostly, he noticed. But also, the word Survey was there quite a bit. He began to notice some sort of logo repeated too; a pair of wings overlapping.

Marco tilted his head back. He could just about see a little bit of blue sky. Despite being the afternoon, Terra was dark; nearly all light blocked by the massive buildings. And the buildings down here; the smaller ones where the Unenhanced lived and worked, were all ugly things, clustered together in overcrowded streets. Everything was dull and dirty; even the air seemed unclean; there was an awful smell, and it seemed a lot stuffier down here.

If Caelum was a heaven, Terra was, without a doubt, hell.

Any excitement he’d had was long gone; a sick feeling of dread replacing it. He didn’t like it down here, it felt too confined. He was beginning to feel claustrophobic; he longed to be back in the open spaces of Caelum, among the clouds. He felt so…unsafe here; despite all of the guards protecting them, he could see the dark expressions of the Unenhanced glaring at them. To make himself feel better, he focused on their collars. If they tried anything, he reasoned, all he would have to do was flick the dial on his wrist. And it wouldn’t even come to that; the threat of the guards would keep them away.

Their teacher did a headcount, before leading them through the city. The Military Police followed closely. He quickly discovered the teacher was just prattling back what they had heard a hundred times before; the history of Caelum and Terra, why they had to separate the Enhanced and Unenhanced to keep the Unenhanced evil from spreading, why they; the next generation, had to learn not to hesitate to teach them their place. It was something they heard so much; Marco could probably recite it at this stage.

He usually was a good student, but he didn’t hesitate to tune out down here, focusing on their surroundings.

They were lead through the main streets of Terra. Drowning the teacher’s words out, Marco focused on the Unenhanced. They all looked beaten down and tired; many thin, all in dirty clothing and dark collars. Marco was glad they were kept down here; he didn’t want people like this cluttering up his Caelum.

Many crowded the streets; slumping against the walls and sitting on steps. Low ugly buildings squatted in between the taller buildings that stretched up to Caelum. Many faces pressed against dirty, cracked windows for a look at the Enhanced. The Unenhanced were quiet as they walked by, throwing hateful looks at the students, before throwing fearful ones at the Military Police. One woman sat on a step, cradling a tiny baby in her bony arms. A group of young boys stood on the roof of a tiny two-story building, giving them the middle finger before running away. Most of them seemed to be out on the street, lurking in corners or trudging along. They all gave their group of Enhanced a wide berth. Most of them, at least.

Marco looked over his shoulder, to where two young men and a young woman were following the procession at a distance. He frowned, recognizing them to have been at the pod gates. Why were they following them? The dread in his stomach coiled a little bit, clenching at his insides. The two young men were tall, the woman was tiny. But they looked strong; without a doubt they must be employed in some sort of physical work. The woman was the one who caught his attention the most; her delicate features contrasting with her fierce blue eyes and strong frame.

The sick feeling grew, and Marco turned around.

Connie nudged him with his elbow. “You okay, man?”

Marco nodded. “I’ve heard about this place, but being here is…”

“Unreal?”

“Unreal.”

Sasha sidled up to them. “Look at them,” she whispered. Despite the situation, there was a small smile on her lips. “They look so hungry, as if they’re going to eat us alive!”

Connie paled. “That’s going to give me nightmares, Sasha,” he muttered.

Sasha giggled, and despite himself, Marco gave a weak smile.

He fell behind them a little bit; watching their backs as they nudged and elbowed each other, exchanging teases and insults. Having them there made him feel a little better, at least.

Hearing whispering behind him; Marco glanced at two boys walking behind him. Thomas and Nack, he noted. The two guys from earlier. They were having a very hushed conversation with one of the Military Police, who was grinning lopsidedly. Frowning, Marco turned his attention back to his teacher just as they rounded a corner, coming onto one of the wider streets.

Immediately, his eyes widened.

“Holy shit,” Connie said beside him.

This street obviously must have served for some sort of main street or town square for the people of Terra. Unlike the other cramped streets, here was an open space. More Unenhanced crowded the streets here than anywhere else. That wasn’t what had surprised him; it was the statue in the middle of the square.

It was huge stone sculpture, far bigger than his own height. It was kind of sickening, too. Hundreds of humans, (Unenhanced, Marco noted, seeing all of their collars), writhing in pain, crying out and reaching up. They were all being crushed under a massive throne, on which sat a man wearing a crown. The Reiss crown, Marco realized, recognizing it.

“This sculpture,” came the voice of his teacher. “Was commissioned by King Elric Reiss, the first. Shortly after the first generation of Enhanced, he ordered this to be built in the center of Terra; as a reminder to the Unenhanced to their rightful place. Under us.” She finished with a beam, pausing as she gazed at it for a moment, before launching into the tale of its construction.

“Fuck,” Sasha breathed in front of him. She elbowed Connie, pointing just beyond the statue. “Look over there.”

Marco followed where she was pointing.

Gallows.

No; looking closer he could see that they weren’t gallows; not really. Someone was hanging from them, but by his wrists, not his neck. His wrists were bound above his neck, hanging from the frame. The person, a man, from what he could see, was shirtless; bloody scratches crisscrossing across his back. He had been whipped, Marco realized with a sinking feeling. Whipped and left hanging by his wrists, for who knew how long?

“I wonder what he did,” said Connie.

“I think he’s still alive,” said Sasha.

Marco said nothing for a few moments. He couldn’t help but pity the man; it did seem a bit…cruel. Inhumane.

 _You’re being a fool_ , he told himself. _You can’t be inhumane with the Unenhanced. They’re not human anyway; not really. They’re stuck in this hell because of their own mistakes; they’re lazy and greedy and evil, so they haven’t evolved like we have. They can’t adapt to Enhanced abilities like us, they can’t live in Caelum. It’s their own fault they’re down here_.

“He probably deserved it,” Marco said after a few minutes. “Ilse works down here; she’s not cruel. Whatever happened, he deserved this.” Connie and Sasha nodded in agreement.

He heard whispers again. Looking behind him, he saw Thomas and Nack speaking to the policeman again. It was the policeman at the very back of the group; all of the others were focused on the rest of the students. Nobody but Marco noticed when the policeman slipped away, beckoning for Thomas and Nack to follow.

The two boys exchanged a look, barely concealed excitement glinting in their eyes.

The policeman began whispering to some of the others. Marco let his curiosity get the better of him, and focused on his voice, zoning in with his enhanced hearing.

“Corporal Wagner – you know him, of course you do; he paid me to give his son a real taste of Terra, instead of this wishy-washy bullshit. Are you going to disagree with his orders?”

“N-no, sir.”

“Didn’t think so. Come on, boys.”

The policeman began walking away, Thomas and Nack following excitedly.

Marco chewed on his bottom lip. “Thomas!” he called, after his back. Turning his head, Thomas looked back. Right now, all of their classmates and teachers were focused on the hideous statue. The other policemen had heard the apparent orders from Corporal Wagner, and weren’t saying a thing. The only one who noticed them gone was Marco; even Connie and Sasha hadn’t seen, they were too busy discussing the Unenhanced man hanging by his wrists.

Thomas raised an eyebrow. “What is it now, Marco? Can’t you see I’m busy?”

“Where do you think you’re going?” Marco asked. “We were told not to leave the group.”

Thomas rolled his eyes. “Listen, Marco – we all know that this tour, or whatever it is, won’t do anything for us. We’re getting a real taste of Terra.”

Marco glanced over his shoulder, at the rest of the class. At the Unenhanced cowering away, hiding from the group of them.

“Hey,” Thomas said, voice brightening a little. “You’re gonna be working in the Police later, aren’t you? So will I, that’s why dad arranged this. Your dad would agree, we need to see what it's _really_ like down here, not this spoon-fed bullshit. Come with us.”

Marco rolled the fingers of his left hand into a fist. He’d admit, the offer was tempting. He was curious about the Unenhanced; he couldn’t deny it, despite being nervous and on edge down here. But he really should stay with the group…Thomas, Nack, and the policeman would probably end up in huge trouble.

That said…could he really just let two of his classmates go off in Terra alone? Granted, they had a policeman with them, granted that there were plenty of them about in the city, but anything could go wrong down here. And Marco was the son of one of the most important people in Caelum, in a few years Marco would be serving King Reiss. And well, Nack and Thomas were nice enough people, but they didn’t always make good decisions. If something happened to them, and he hadn’t told anyone where they were, it would be his fault.

“You coming?”

Marco glanced over his shoulder once before nodding. “Yeah.”

♛ ♛ ♛ 

Away from the main group of students and policemen, the Unenhanced were much more intimidating. The policeman in front of him walked with confidence through the streets. Marco’s one open eye kept flickering from right to left. The streets were definitely more packed around here, and the looks of contempt from the Unenhanced seemed worse now that he wasn’t surrounded by trained by policemen.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the blonde woman and her two male companions following from behind, still a distance away, but still _there_. His stomach lurched.

Nack elbowed him, noticing his discomfort. “Dude,” he said, nodding to where policemen on patrol were stationed. “Relax. We’re safe.”

Marco just nodded, not quite believing it but relaxing a little. He decided to tune in to what the policeman was saying to Thomas.

“You see, you need to show them who’s boss. These people? They’re scum. Barely can be called people, really. But they’ve a very…active imagination, you could say. Give them a break and they’ll be dreaming of overthrowing us. We need to remind them of their place, y’know? And words don’t get through their thick skulls, so the only way to remind them, is violence.”

Marco’s left eye widened slightly.

“Keep it random, y’know? It keeps them on their toes. And if you’re gonna become a part of the Police, you’ll need to be used to seeing it and dealing it out.”

The policeman raised an arm, gesturing for them to stop walking. His blue eyes scanned the people around them. “You want a taste of reality on Terra? I’ll give you a demonstration.”

Marco’s throat was dry. He looked at the people around them: a young woman was guiding her young son away from them. They were both very thin, and even from this distance Marco could see the fear in her eyes. He could see a man standing at the corner, leaning against the wall. His eyes, partially hidden by long hair, were focused on the policeman. He looked tense, as if he was getting ready to bolt at any moment. A young man and a younger woman came out of one of the buildings. They looked like teenagers, the boy's arm curled protectively around the girl. He remembered seeing them at the pod exit.

If it wasn’t for the collars curled around all of their necks, he could almost think that they were people, like him or Connie or Sasha, or Thomas or Nack. They all had names, he was sure, and families, and stories, and thoughts. He doubted they had many dreams, though; they couldn’t do much down here.

Marco knew better; he knew who they were, what they were. But surrounded by them, it was harder to see them as the scum he knew they were.

“You. Step forward.”

The policeman raised a hand, pointing to the girl walking with the guy with the undercut.

Marco gulped.

Now that he looked closer, they looked alike. They shared the same shade of hair; somewhere between an ash brown and a dirty blonde. They also had the same hazel eyes, and the same sharp nose. They must be related, he decided, most likely siblings. 

He was nervous. Marco had an idea of what to expect, and he didn’t like it. He knew that it would be something that he would have to deal with when he was older, but right now, it wasn’t something he wanted to think about.

The girl’s hazel eyes widened, sending a fearful glance back to her brother. The brother paled, eyes flickering between them. For a second, they lingered on Marco. Marco felt a little sick. The girl took a few steps towards them, unsure of herself. He noticed that she wobbled slightly on her feet. The Unenhanced all around them stopped whatever they were doing, the buzz of talk gradually dying down. They all got out of the way, forming a circle around them.

“I presume you kids know how to use your dials?” the policeman asked. “Whatever - _using_ _them_ and _knowing how to use them_ are very different things. It’ll be good to get some practice.”

Marco glanced at his two classmates; they looked a little apprehensive, but curious. Marco wished he hadn’t come with them.

“What are you gonna start with?”

The policeman tilted his head. “Three.”

The girl took a sharp breath, quickly taking a step back. The policeman’s hand went to the dial on his right wrist, twisting the dial, and-

“Ah!” There was a humming sound, and the girl’s hands went to her neck. Marco would never know what getting shocked with a collar would be like, but her reaction told him everything he needed to know. She was gasping for breath, stumbling backwards with her eyes closed and face scrunched up in pain. She would have fallen if her brother hadn’t caught her. Murmurs were flying through the crowd. Marco looked up to the roof of a nearby building. Two policemen were stationed there, he hoped they might intervene, but instead they looked on with an expression nearing amusement.

After a moment, the policeman clicked his dial off. The girl sank into her brother’s arms, breathing heavily. Angry whispers were spreading across the crowd of Unenhanced, and Marco was becoming more uneasy by the minute.

“That was wicked,” Thomas breathed. There was a glint in his eye, the same glint present in the policeman’s. He still looked a little bit apprehensive - but the idea of this power was winning out. Marco could understand the appeal, to be honest; all their life they had been told that they had this power but were never given a chance to use it. For the first time, they were really seeing the control they had over the Unenhanced.

Marco couldn’t enjoy it, though. He was too uneasy, too aware of the mass of Unenhanced in the area, too aware of the looks of anger on their faces.

“Your turn,” the policeman said, with a smirk.

Thomas’s eyes widened. “Seriously?”

“Seriously. Think she can take a five? Heh, only one way to find out.”

“No,” the boy spoke, eyes narrowed. “No, she hasn’t done anything – please, she’s sick-”

Thomas hesitated for a moment. He took a deep breath and flicked his dial up to five, and the girl let out a loud cry. Tears were squeezing from under her eyelids now. The boy looked frantically around, unsure what to do, searching for help in the crowd. “Stop!” he yelled.

“Stop,” Marco whispered, but it was so quiet nobody heard it. He didn’t like this; this was nothing like what he had heard, this was too real. He wasn't prepared for this.

Thomas flicked his dial off, his grin wider. “Nack,” he said, grinning at his friend.

His grin was reflected in Nack’s face. He turned back to the girl.

The brother turned suddenly, shielding her body with his own. The one fault with the collar and dial system was that your eyes had to focus in on the victim’s body. Like this, Nack couldn’t focus on her, only on him. He let out an impatient huff. “Move,” he said. “Or I’ll shock you instead.”

The boy didn’t move a muscle.

Nack turned his dial up to seven, frowning at the boy’s back. The humming sound was louder this time, but it could only be heard for a moment before the boy’s loud gasp. A choked sound made its way past his lips, and for a second Marco thought he would fall to the ground. He stumbled a little, but kept his balance, even though his whole body was shaking. He made a noise of pain, and Marco felt a twinge of sympathy before Nack turned his dial off.

“Jean!” he heard someone from the crowd call. The boy – Jean? – sank to his knees slowly, back to them, still cradling his sister against his chest. He was breathing heavily, shoulders twitching.

“Marco,” Thomas called. “Your turn.”

He looked at the person in front of him. He was nothing, Unenhanced filth. Marco could kill him and nobody would even care. But this was someone who was putting himself in harm’s way to protect somebody he cared about. Marco hesitated.

And suddenly there was movement in the crowd; people being pushed aside as someone mowed their way through to the front. It was a boy, with blazing green eyes and a shock of messy dark hair and a face pulled back into a snarl. “Enhanced scum!” he yelled, throwing something in their direction.

It was a brick. Marco had done a lot of training over the last few years, and it was easy to raise his right arm and block it. It bounced harmlessly off of his metal arm, breaking in two on impact.

Everything happened very quickly after that.

It was like that one kid had sparked a fire; suddenly the angry murmurs were angry yells, and the Unenhanced were picking up anything they could find and throwing it at them, shouting and cursing. Not all of the Unenhanced, of course; some of them were frantically fleeing the scene. Marco saw the boy from before stumble to his feet, helping his sister up before being lost in the crowd that was suddenly moving forward.

In an instant, Enhanced policemen were there, and the familiar humming of collars began again as they tried to regain control of the crowd. The Unenhanced were easily overpowered; Marco could see that this was futile. The policemen didn’t even need their abilities (apart from their dials), and the Unenhanced were stumbling and falling one after the other under their gaze. Some didn’t even bother with the dials; using enhanced speed and strength to take whoever got in their way down with force alone.

Still, the mob wasn’t stopping. It was like an unstoppable wave of anger crashing into the policemen.

“Survey!” he heard someone yell.

“Come on,” grunted the policeman, snapping Marco out of his trance. He had been frozen in place, just watching as the riot raged on and more Enhanced arrived to the scene. Seeing the policeman guide Thomas and Nack away from the danger, he quickly followed.

And then, the three he had spotted earlier were in front of them; the blonde woman and the two tall men. Up close, they didn’t look that old at all – hardly older than Marco. “Annie,” he heard one call, and the next thing he knew the blonde woman was launching herself at him, moving quicker than he would have thought possible for an Unenhanced girl.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Thomas and Nack stumble backwards as the policeman quickly engaged one of the men; Marco couldn’t see much but almost immediately smelled burning flesh and knew he was using his enhanced abilities.

He barely registered it before the woman was on top of him, arm swinging in for a sharp punch. Marco _knew_ how to fight, and he raised his arm to block the punch. She was feigning though, and her foot slammed into the side of his knee, making it buckle.

He was partially in shock as he fell to one knee; shock that this was happening, shock over the fact that someone _Unenhanced_ could fight like this. How _dare_ she? He could see her swinging her knee next, and he reached up to block it. She wrenched out of his grip, swinging a kick that connected with his ribs, but Marco would be damned if he would be beaten by an Unenhanced girl. He forced himself up, narrowly dodging an elbow to his nose (instead landing one on his cheek). He sent a clumsy hit out in her direction, but she was too quick.

For a second, he considered using his dial. His good eye focused on the girl, zooming in. A tiny green tick in his peripheral vision told him that he was good to go. His hand went to his dial…but he couldn’t turn it.

The blonde reached out, grabbing for his face and Marco turned his head to avoid two fingers in his good eye.

Bad move.

With the turn of his head, she ended up hitting the other side of his face, dislodging the eye patch over his right eye.

“Shit-”

Marco grit his teeth through the hot pain as a blast of heat erupted from his eye. He shut his good one so he wouldn’t be blinded, he knew from experience that a column of red was shining from his eye. A heat beam, it was called. An ability created for him alone, one that had failed so hilariously that Marco could barely control it, despite it being incredibly dangerous.

The beam landed on the brickwork of a building in front of him, shooting straight through it, causing brick and dust to collapse around it. He wondered for a brief moment if he had hit that girl. He fell onto his back, the beam swerving widely and blasting through more of the walls around him before he managed to shut his eye. His hand scrambled around in the dirt until he found the eye patch. He slipped it on before getting up, accepting a hand from Thomas and ignoring Nack’s _“dude that was awesome!”_

Instead, he followed the policeman, who had since dealt with the other two (Marco could see them slumped on the ground, he wasn’t sure if they were dead or alive-) and began to run.

♛ ♛ ♛ 

He had been expecting a lot of trouble. In the end, the angry crowd had turned into a full blown riot, and it had taken a lot of the Military Police to get them under control. They had even managed to hurt several of them, which Marco didn’t find as shocking as his classmates. The policemen had been painted as all but untouchable; but from what he had seen earlier he knew it wasn’t true.

In the end, nearly three dozen of the Unenhanced had been killed during the Police’s efforts to regain control. Who knew how many more had been wounded. All of the students had been evacuated quickly, in case they got caught in the rioting. Any future trips to Terra for other students had been cancelled.

Marco was expecting to be in a lot of trouble for leaving the group. Maybe if he had insisted Thomas and Nack had stayed, it wouldn’t have happened. But Thomas’s father quickly admitted to having given his son and his friends permission to leave, and nobody was going to deny Corporal Wagner that right. In the end, the teacher had been more pissed off that three of her students hadn’t been listening to her preaching.

At the end of the day, the policemen had gained control of the Unenhanced and none of the students had come to any harm. “So really,” Ilse had said, “there was no harm done. You just need to be more careful down there. Marco; you really shouldn’t have left the group. It wasn’t your fault though; I’m sure it still would have happened even if you weren’t there.”

Marco’s mother had looked uncomfortable when she had heard, asking if he had done anything to the Unenhanced. She looked worried enough, and Marco didn’t want to worry her further saying he had been close enough to one that he had to fight her off. When she asked, he just shook his head, and she looked relieved.

His father was a different matter.

He had called him into his office, had him sit across from him. “I’m not mad at you,” he said, sinking into his chair and entwining his fingers. “At least, not for leaving the group when you knew it would be dangerous. You did it out of concern for your classmates. It was a brave thing to do, even if it was foolish.”

Marco knew that his father had two modes: business mode, and father mode. When he was in his father mode, Marco could relax more around him. Conversation would be lighter; jokes would be made, smiles given freely. In business mode, he was as serious as a funeral. Right now, he was in business mode, and when he was in business mode, Marco knew not to speak unless asked a direct question. So he didn’t respond.

“However…judging on what your classmates – Thomas and Nack, was it? – and the policeman had to say about your behavior…”

Marco frowned a little.

“They say you acted bravely, but hesitated to use your dial. Twice; once with that kid on the street, but more importantly when you were attacked. What do you have to say for yourself?”

Marco looked down at his hands. What could he say for himself? It was perfectly within his right to have used the dial, to shock some sense into those Unenhanced…but he hadn’t. He didn’t know why, he never would have thought he would have been one to hesitate, but when the time came to it, he just…couldn’t.

“I asked you a question, Marco.”

“I don’t know. I don’t know why I did it. I guess…knowing the theory is different to actually using it when they’re right there in front of you.”

His father sighed. “Marco, in a few years, you’re meant to be taking my position as head of security. There’s no room for hesitation in that job; not when there are lives on the line.”

“I know.”

“Do you? Even when it’s something as small as using your dial on a single Unenhanced, it’s a lesson you need to learn.”

“And I have learned, father. It won’t happen again.”

“You’re right; it won’t.”

There was a knock on the door. “Come in,” his father called. Marco resisted the urge to turn around and see who it was coming in through the door.

“I was told you wanted me, sir?”

Marco failed to resist the urge, turning when he recognized the familiar voice. “Violet?”

Violet was an Unenhanced maid in the house, one who had been there as long as Marco could remember. She was like a ghost; always present, but never quite there. Like the rest of the Unenhanced staff, they seemed to materialize whenever he wanted something, and existed mostly to serve him. Sometimes he forgot that she was even Unenhanced, but the collar around her neck always reminded them both of what she was.

She was near enough the same age as his father, though she looked older; years of wear and tear evident on her face. She always looked tired, no matter how many smiles she had for Marco. Now, as well as exhausted, she looked confused, and wary. No doubt she had heard about the riot that had happened earlier.

“When it comes to the Unenhanced, you can’t have any attachments,” his father’s voice cut through the tension in the room. “It doesn’t matter who they are – they’re nothing, each and every one of them. They’re vermin, vermin you have to be prepared to exterminate at all times. Understood?”

His mouth was dry as he nodded. “Yeah.”

“Prove it to me. An Unenhanced person stands right in front of you. Give her a three.”

Wide eyed, Marco looked from the maid to his father. She looked terrified, pale faced and confused, as if she was thinking about making a run for it. “Sir?” she asked.

“Do it, Marco.”

“D-dad?” Marco looked at her, studied her face. Sure, she was Unenhanced, but she couldn’t be all bad. She was around for as long as Marco could remember. Enhanced parents didn't raise their children, they had a number of servants to do that for them. While Marco hadn't seen much of this particular maid of late, he had pretty distinct memories of her from when she was a child; dressing him and feeding him and tucking him into bed at night.

She could try to run, but she wouldn’t get very far. Marco doubted she would make it to the door, not with his father in the room. And even if she did, she wouldn’t get much further, not with all of the Enhanced guards in the building.

“Why are you hesitating Marco?” his father’s voice was ice cold. Marco didn’t like him like this; not when all he was thinking about was the future and the role Marco would have to take on soon. He was desperately hoping for the kinder man he knew he was at heart to make an appearance. “You just told me that you wouldn’t.”

The palm that was flesh and blood was beginning to sweat. His slick, metal arm was beginning to hum a little bit; Marco could feel it beginning to whir. It always did when he was nervous. “She hasn’t done anything wrong – those people earlier attacked us, she hasn’t, she hasn’t done _anything_ -”

“That’s where you’re failing, Marco. She’s Unenhanced. She doesn’t need to have done anything. Vermin, that’s all they are; kill one and there are fifty crawling to replace it. Besides, she’s getting old; if I have to have vermin serving you I’d rather someone closer to your own age. Now, for the love of Sina, give her a three. _Don’t_ make me say it again.”

When his father was like this, he was really quite scary.

Marco’s good eye shifted, zooming in slightly so it got a good picture on the maid. He heard the tiny click, saw the tiny green tick in the corner of his eye that told him the focus was on the terrified maid. He could already feel the hum of power slipping down internal circuits to his dial. Marco could hear his own heart thundering loudly in his ribcage. His father could probably hear it too, with his enhanced hearing.

He slowly gripped the dial with sweaty fingers. Keeping the focus on the maid, he stopped looking at her face, trying to get rid of some of the guilt already pooling in his stomach.

He turned the knob up to three.

The maid cried out, hands flying up to her collar. Her body twitched, tiny pained gasping noises escaping her. Was that his own blood Marco could hear in his ears?

His father gave a hum of approval, nodding as he leaned back in his chair. “Very good.”

Marco wanted to look away, but he couldn’t. If he turned, his focus wouldn’t be locked on her, and it would be broken. His father hadn’t given him permission to turn his dial off yet. And even if it wasn’t for that, he doubted that he would be able to tear his eyes away.

“Turn it up to five, Marco.”

Marco finally looked away, turning to his father as the maid gasped in relief. “What?”

“You heard me.” His father’s eyes were the same shade of brown as his own, but they seem much colder. Marco slowly turned around, giving an apologetic look to the maid as he locks his focus on her again, turning the dial up to five.

She screamed this time, back arching for a moment before she fell to her knees, clawing at her neck. With his high quality vision, Marco could clearly see the tears squeezing from underneath her eyes. She kept crying out, a mixture of short yelps and crying and gasping. Marco felt like his stomach was being twisted into a knot.

 _It doesn’t matter_ , he told himself. _She’s just Unenhanced. It’s not wrong for me to do this_.

He wondered why he was feeling bad – he knew what she was, he knew that there was nothing wrong with what he was doing, but why did he feel so bad about it?

 _It’s just because you don’t see the point,_ he told himself. _There’s nothing wrong with this, but there’s no reason behind it. It’s alright; she’s only an Unenhanced maid._

“Good. You’re learning.” From behind him, Marco could hear his father stand up. “Now. Ten.”

He could have sworn his heart stopped for a moment. “Ten?”

Ten was the highest on the dial – a ten would kill her almost instantly.

“Ten.” His father rested a hand on his shoulder. “Prove to me that you have what it takes, Marco. If you want to even dream about taking over from me or serving the King, you need to be able to _exterminate_ this vermin.”

The maid broke her silence. “Please,” she rasped, breathing heavily as she looked up at them. Her eyes were filled with tears. “Master B-bodt, I’ve served you loyally for years, have mercy, _please_.”

“Marco.”

Marco had never killed anyone before. He knew she was only an Unenhanced woman, but somewhere in the back of his mind, his conscience was yelling at him, telling him that this was _wrong_.

What could he do, though? If he didn’t do it, his father would finish the job anyway. He knew he was being overemotional about a simple Unenhanced woman, but couldn’t help his dread. His hand was trembling as he switched his dial to ten.

For a split second, she screamed. It was cut short as her body slumped forward, landing with a thud on the carpet. Marco finally closed his eye.

♛ ♛ ♛ 

Jean shoved the door of the apartment open with his shoulder, his other arm wrapped around the waist of his sister. "Fucking Enhanced," he growled under his breath.

Eren and Mikasa were behind them. "Be gentle," Mikasa chided, taking his sister's arm. Odette had always looked sickly - she had a sort of frail, delicate beauty, but she always looked like a gust of wind could snap her in half. And now, she looked as if she might collapse. She leaned into Mikasa's hold, barely able to stand.

Jean felt as if he was on fire - he was furious. Absolutely raging - they hadn’t been doing anything to aggravate those boys. His gaze caught the dark collar around Odette throat as he opened the door. It was so fucked up; those kids were the same age as he was; a few years, give or take, older than her. Yet they had so much power over them; they had been bored so they attacked. Jean had _told_ them, told them that she was sick - but that didn't make them show any mercy.

They had been on a _five._ And rising. They had given Jean a seven. If it hadn’t been for the riot – no. He didn’t want to think about what might have happened. If he hadn’t been there, Odette would be…

_Shut up, Jean._

She was even paler than usual. With her health, she couldn’t easily take an attack like that. Jean was still weak kneed and unbalanced from that seven he had received, but at least he was able to stand. Odette couldn't.

One of the scariest things was that those officers, members of the Military Police - grown men - had done nothing. No, that was a lie. They _had_ done something - they had _laughed._ They would have let those three rich boys kill him and his little sister. Jean suspected that any day, some rich Enhanced man could massacre as many Unenhanced as they wanted to, and nobody above would protest. Why was Jean even surprised anymore? None of them gave a shit about the Unenhanced, yet they still seemed to sink to new lows. 

Jean opened his arms, and she gladly fell into them. Scooping her up into his arms, he gently walked into the dingy two-roomed apartment, laying her down gently on the couch.

"You should get some rest," he murmured, kneeling down beside her. She was fifteen years old, yet she wasn't much heavier than an eight year old.

She gave him a frail smile. "You should get some too," she said.

"I will," Jean said, gently stroking her cheek.

"That's what you always say," Odette mumbled, but she closed her eyes anyway. "What happened to all of your old honesty?"

Jean scoffed. "Can't survive in this town without lying."

She laughed a little at that. "True," she said. "But you're a shit liar." She was just as cynical as he was, even if she wasn't as strong.

"Hmph. You should show a little respect for your big brother."

Odette somehow had the strength to roll her eyes. "Only by two years," she muttered, sinking down into the couch.

Within five minutes, she was sleeping, her chest rising and falling. When she was asleep, she actually looked her age. Despite being sick for most of her life, she was a tough one. Like Jean. There was a hardness to her features, despite looking so delicate. Jean was so proud of her. She was stronger than he would ever be.

Odette was so like their mother; from her appearance to her manner. She had definitely inherited some of her traits from her; her quick tongue, her low tolerance for bullshit, her blunt manner. The two biggest differences they had was Odette’s lack of patience and cynicism, which Jean suspected she had gotten from growing up with him.

She got frustrated rather easily; sometimes at him, but more often at herself and her inability to do things because of her illness. And hell, she was even more of a cynic than he was; no matter what happened, she doubted she would live very long. No matter how many times Jean had told her to shut up, because she’d be fine, she would never believe him. She only ever rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath about how it was obvious.

Now, Jean wasn’t very hopeful by nature, but his sister was the one person he would never give up on.

He stood up, turning to where Eren and Mikasa stood. "Jean," Eren began, but Jean cut him off with a gesture to follow him into the kitchen.

The apartment was on the second floor of the building. It had two rooms; a tiny living room and a tinier kitchen. Odette slept on the couch, Jean on the hard floor. It had wooden floors partially rotted in some places, a cockroach problem, and the pipes leaked. Jean was grateful for it; so many people were worse off. With so many others sleeping rough on the streets or in the slums, this was practically a palace.

When the three of them congregated in the kitchen, he closed the door softly behind him before looking at Eren.

He wasted no time in starting. "You see, Jean? These mindless acts of violence? They were going to kill her. And you. For no reason except that they were bored."

Jean clenched his fists. "You think I don't know that?"

"This is why the Unenhanced need Survey!" he said. They were both talking in hushed tones so as to not wake Odette, but there was enough emotion in Eren's voice to make up for the lack of volume.

He and Eren went way back. He didn’t know him as long as Eren had known Mikasa, but he had known him long before either of them had begun to dabble with Survey. At first they hadn’t really gotten along well; they were too similar and different at the same time. They both had strong personalities, while their beliefs clashed; Jean’s gloomy, pessimistic outlook didn’t click well with Eren’s forever hopeful beliefs. But petty fights ended quickly after they had been chased by Enhanced guards one day, when they realized they were really on the same side.

Eren and Mikasa had helped him look after Odette, especially when she was going downhill. They had been there for them when his mother disappeared. Jean had done his best to be their for them when their mom died. Mikasa and Eren were the closest things Jean had to family after Odette. And Eren’s nature had begun to rub off a little on Jean; he became…not hopeful, exactly but _driven_.

The three of them had ended up mixing with Survey, the small resistance in Terra. They hadn’t been in very far, but they had helped out on some of their missions. Jean had been naïve; it was only a few months ago, but he had actually thought that they might have been able to change the system. Of course, then Odette’s health had taken another turn for the worse, and he left to care for her.

He didn’t know if Eren had ever quite forgiven him for leaving (he had been trying to convince him to come back since), but if he hadn’t started that ruckus earlier, they would most likely both be dead.

Jean owed him his life, so he tried not to get angry. “Listen, Eren…I know you believe in Survey, I just…can’t follow it. It’s practically suicide. I mean, there’s only so long it can keep going before the Military Police come down on it, and when they do? Every known associate will be executed, and you know it. Besides, we don’t even know who the leader is, how do you know we could trust him? For all we know, it could be a trap.”

Mikasa frowned. “How could it be a trap?”

“I don’t know, an elaborate trap run by the Military to attract rebels so they can then get rid of them?” He didn’t quite believe that was the case, but the fact remained that nobody apart from the inner circle of Survey knew much about its mysterious leader.

Eren rolled his eyes. “The only reason we don’t know yet, is because we haven’t been initiated into the main branch rt of it yet,” he said. “It’s clear everyone else in Survey trusts him, we can do the same.”

Jean sighed, running a hand through his messy hair. “Look – whatever. The fact is, is that Odette’s getting worse and worse each day. We were at the doctor’s earlier, and that alone pretty much cost the rest of our money. And the new medication she needs; it’s expensive. Getting a fucking collar shock from those Enhanced scumbags earlier wasn’t exactly good for her either.”

He felt so tired suddenly. He just wanted to curl up on the floor and sleep his worries away. Jean knew, though, that they never really went away, not even when he was asleep.

“What’s your plan?” Mikasa asked, leaning against the wall with her arms folded. “I mean, you’re going to have to find a way to pay for this medication, unless-”

“I’m done with stealing,” Jean replied, “if I can avoid it. I’m going to apply for a job, above.”

Eren looked livid. “So instead of fighting against them like you _know_ you should, you’re gonna go up and fucking serve them?”

Jean met his gaze. “If it’s for Odette, yeah.”

Nobody said anything for a moment. Jean refused to break eye contact. Eventually Mikasa broke the silence. “I’d do the same, in your position,” she said quietly, before putting a hand on Eren’s shoulder.

Eren looked away.

“Let’s go.”

♙♙♙

Jean was nervous as he walked into the pod. It had barely been two days since the riot, but one of the rich families in Caelum had opened up a job offer in their household staff. According to the rumors, a maid had been murdered by the teenage son. That alone was enough to put most people off.

In general, those who worked for the Enhanced weren’t well loved down in Terra. They were seen as a type of traitor down below. All of the Unenhanced despised the Enhanced, and the fact that someone would willingly work for them…most of the Unenhanced staff were treated badly in Terra because of that.

Jean had worked a similar job before, and had faced the consequences for it. He was pretty damn certain he still had the scars from the last time someone had vented their displeasure at it out on him. Everyone hated the Enhanced, but Jean could name a few of the Unenhanced he also hated.

Still, his mother had done this all her life to provide for him and Odette. If she could do it, so could he. He was still nervous though; the previous incident with the Enhanced had made him all too aware of the cruelty of the Enhanced.

He wondered if the teenage murderer he would (hopefully) be working for had been one of those boys who used their dials on him and Odette.

The good thing was that although he had stolen in the past, and although he had done some missions for Survey, he had never been caught. Because of that, his name was still clean up in their files, which meant he still had the chance to get a job.

Working as household staff for an Enhanced family wasn’t easy, though; depending on the family, you could be collar shocked for tiny things. You were expected to carry out all duties flawlessly for eighteen hours a day, six days a week, and ten hours on the seventh day. Physical punishment was also common; the thought of it made the scars on Jean’s back tingle a little. His past employer, Nile Dawk, certainly had been liberal with a whip.

If you weren’t up to what your employer’s standard was, you could easily be denied your wage. Wages were tiny enough anyway; barely enough to make ends meet in the first place. And of course, like the supposed maid who had been killed; you were in constant danger from the Enhanced. Guards could beat you for fun, nobody would care. Guards could use your collar for fun, they wouldn’t be stopped. Teenage boys could kill the staff if they wanted, and they wouldn’t even be scolded. And after putting up with all of that, you’d come home to an Unenhanced community where everyone hated you for working with the enemy.

It was enough to make Jean want to turn around.

 _For Odette_ , he thought.

He let the guards at the gravity pod check his papers. Anyone Unenhanced had to have the right papers before travelling up. These ones had been issued to him after he had applied for the job. Jean knew they were in order, but he was still jittery and nervous as they scanned them. He was half expecting them to somehow know that he had been in Survey and arrest him (or worse, give him a ten there and then) and half expecting them to recognize him as the kid who was involved in the riot two days ago, but nothing happened. They shoved the papers back at him and searched him for any weapons he might have on him, before shoving him into the pod.

Jean hated the pods.

In fact, he hated Caelum. While working for Nile Dawk, he had been working in one of the highest buildings in the city, and he had hated it. As a child, Jean had dreamed of owning a big house in the sky. Of course, he was Unenhanced, and those naïve dreams were quickly crushed. Still; the first time he had gone to Caelum, he hadn’t been able to suppress the tiny excited feeling in his stomach; after all, he had been going up to _Caelum_ , the city in the clouds, literal heaven on earth.

He had hated it the moment the pod started moving. Jean had been terrified up there; all he could think of was the long, fatal drop. He had found out pretty quickly that he was not very good with heights. He still wasn’t, and as the pod rushed upwards he felt his knees shake and hands tremble.

Jean thought he might get sick, but he squeezed his eyes shut, and the pod juddered to a halt.

Of course, for just an interview he wouldn’t be going all of the way up.

There was an area of the Admin buildings, in a sort of no man’s land between Caelum and Terra where meetings between the Enhanced and Unenhanced took place. This level in all of the buildings was reserved for storehouses and military barracks; far too low for the Enhanced to live, far too high for the Unenhanced to live. This was where job interviews tended to take place; the Enhanced only wanted as many Unenhanced in Caelum as was absolutely necessary.

Showing his papers again to the guards here, and after being searched again, he was escorted to a room.

Two guards were outside of the door, and four more stood inside the room. With the two guards escorting him practically breathing down his neck, Jean was brought to sit down into a chair. In front of him was a table, behind it another empty chair. The two escorting him left, leaving him alone with the other four.

The events of two days ago began to play in his head, and Jean couldn’t help but grow nervous under their gazes. Any one of them could lash out at him right now. They could kill him and get away completely free, having caused nothing but a minor inconvenience.

The nerves didn’t go away when the door opened and a man and a woman entered. The man was Enhanced, a tall man with broad shoulders, dark skin and hair, and freckles peppering his skin. The woman, Jean was surprised to note, was Unenhanced. She wore the standard black and white uniform all Unenhanced staff wore. Strawberry blonde hair fell to her shoulders, and despite her prettiness her eyes were hard. Neither were people to be messed with.

Wordlessly, the man sat in the chair opposite Jean while the woman stood behind him at a respectful distance.

“Let’s be frank, and cut to the chase,” the man said. “Most people like me would not go to the trouble to interview their own staff, but I’m not like most people. I’m a very busy man, and I hate wasting time, but I want to know what Unenhanced people are going to be serving my family. My name is Jeremiah Bodt and I will tolerate absolutely no nonsense – understand?”

Jean swallowed and nodded. His mouth was dry and his palms were sweaty, and it felt like there were snakes in his stomach.

“Good. Show me your papers.”

This Jeremiah Bodt was obviously a leader of some sort; he demanded respect from everyone, and from the way he walked into the room, from his commanding tone of voice and body language, it was clear he was used to giving orders and being in charge. It was also clear that what he said was true; he would tolerate no bullshit.

If Jean was intimidated before, he was terrified now. Still, he handed over his papers.

It was unusual, true enough, for someone like him to interview his own staff. “Age?” he barked.

“Seventeen, sir.”

“Hm. One of the reasons I’m the one sitting across from you is I’m looking for someone specific. The opening we have is serving my son, and I want a boy close to his own age serving him.”

Jean said nothing – Mr. Bodt hadn’t said anything that would need a reaction from him. The nerves twisted more fiercely – if he was hired, he’d be working for the son, the one that had killed the other maid.

“Says here that you worked for Nile Dawk for two years when you were younger. Why did you leave? Were you fired?”

“No, sir. I left.”

“Why?”

 _To join Survey_. “To care for my sister. She’s ill. _Sir_.”

“Family history?”

“My mother worked as a maid for Nile Dawk for many years before I did. I never knew my father, he left when I was young.”

“Does your mother still work for him? Is your father dead?”

“No. I don’t know about my father.”

“Where’s your mother now?”

“She disappeared a few years ago. I haven’t spoken to her since.”

“Hm. Ral?” he asked, turning in his seat to address the blonde. “Have you looked into the Archive’s file on him?”

“Yes, sir. His name is Jean Kirschtein, and everything he has said is in accordance with his file. His mother worked for Mr. Dawk for nearly twenty years. She disappeared three years ago, on her way back to Terra. The disappearance wasn’t looked into. The file didn’t mention his father at all. Only surviving known family at the moment is a younger sister, she’s quite sickly. And there’s a report about him from Mr. Dawk’s head of staff.”

Jeremiah Bodt was silent for a few minutes, deep in thought.

“Listen, Kirschtein. I’m a busy man, and I don’t have the time to interview every goddamned teenager from Terra. So far, you’re the only one the right age who has applied for the job that seems anyway reliable. If you survived at Dawk’s for as long as you did, you must be. You’re not hired yet, but we’ll have you work with us for a two week trial, to see if you’re suitable. If you’re still with us, we’ll hire you. Any objections?”

“No, sir.”

“Didn’t think you would.”

Mr. Bodt addressed one of the guards. “I have a meeting in an hour. Prepare a hovercar to bring me to the Royal Palace. Escort Ral and Kirschtein back to my home.”

♙♙♙

“Remember, only speak when spoken to. Make sure to stay a respectable distance away at all times; one and a half meters away, at least. Of course, an exception is when your duty calls to come closer; for example, if you’re helping to service the young master’s arm, or if you’re bringing something to him. Keep your head bowed; it’s a sign of respect and humility, and it tells them we know our place. They like that; they like to feel secure in that way. Always call them _sir_ or _madam_ – you’ll be working mostly around the young master, so you don’t need to worry about the madam part too much. You’ll sleep in the servant’s dorms – it’s on the same level as the break room where we just were, and you need to wear the communicator device at all times. If the young master requires your services, he’ll use it to contact you. It’s fitted into your collar and believe me, when it’s rung, you’ll know. No matter what you’re doing, you must go to him _immediately_. Breakfast is served at 8am sharp, dinner at 8pm. If you miss a meal, you go hungry. Stealing isn’t tolerated under any circumstances. Now, to go over the names again, the master of the house is Jeremiah Bodt, his wife is Elena. His younger sister, Ilse is often around too, as well as her daughter Ymir and of course, the young master Marco. This corridor leads to…”

Jean tuned her out, focusing on picking up his surroundings. After a horrible journey from the Admin buildings to the house, he had been stunned at the sheer size of it. It seemed unbelievable that only one family and their servants lived here. He had been given a brief tour of the servants’ quarters by Petra Ral, the head of staff in the household, before being given his new uniform.

One of the things he hadn’t missed was the uniforms. Stiff black trousers, uncomfortable black shoes and light white shirts with low shirt collars – so their metal collars could be seen more clearly. Then there were the tags; two tags on slim chains, one around his neck and one on his wrist, with his names and employment number. The other new addition was the little communication device set into his collar. Jean hated it all already; just being in the uniform was bringing back painful memories.

“Oi. Kirschtein. Are you even listening to me?”

Petra clicked her fingers in front of his face. Petra Ral was the head of staff in the Bodt household, and although she was much smaller than him, she was intimidating in her own way. Although not as terrifying as Mr. Bodt, she definitely had a no-nonsense aura around her.

“Y-yes, of course, Ms. Ral.”

She sighed. “Listen kid, I read your file. The head of staff over at Dawk’s wrote about you on it.”

“Really? What did he say?”

“He said that you’re a smart-ass to those around you that aren’t Enhanced. He also said you walk a very fine line; never straying enough to lose your job, but straying enough to become familiar with Nile Dawk’s whip.”

Jean winced, turning his head away slightly. He could practically hear the crack of the whip. “That was a while ago, though; I’m not as bad anymore.”

“You better not be. In Dawk’s you were just general staff, here you’ve a much more specific role. Marco Bodt is eighteen, nearly finished school, and will be the head of security in a few years’ time. He’s one of the brightest kids his age.”

“He’s the one that killed his old maid, yeah?”

Petra didn’t miss a beat, but her expression hardened slightly. “Shut your mouth, kid. You’ll need to watch your tongue around him.”

“Sorry.” He really wasn't very sorry.

“All the time you’re here, you have to make yourself available to him if he needs you. You’ll accompany him everywhere – apart from school. If he explicitly tells you to leave him alone, you come to me, understand?”

“Understood. But why? Did his last maid follow him around the whole time?”

Petra ran a hand through her short hair. “Listen…that’s another reason your job is so specific. Mr. Bodt wants you to keep an eye on his behavior, and he’s going to check up on you every so often to see how he’s getting along.”

Jean frowned. This wasn’t exactly what he had thought would come with the job description. “So I’m spying on him?”

“No! You’re just…keeping an eye out for unusual behavior. Anyway, you tend to anything he needs. He tells you to do something, you do it. You stay with him all day Monday through Saturday, minus school hours. On Sundays, you stay with him til 5 pm, and then you’re free until 6am on Monday morning.”

“Basically I’m his personal slave during those hours.”

“Exactly! You _are_ a quick learner. While he’s at school, there’s a list of chores you need to do; cleaning his living areas, mostly. And when you’re finished those, you find me and help out with the more general tasks. When he comes home, you meet him at the door, and you barely leave his side until it’s time for bed. And so the cycle repeats itself.”

“Sounds thrilling.”

“We get paid for this, Kirschtein. It doesn’t have to be thrilling.”

That was true. Jean just nodded. “When do I start?”

“You seem ready. Now.”

“Now?”

“Now. You have the tiny map I gave you? His bedroom is marked on it. I went through basic rules, and I’m sure you had them drilled into you at Dawk’s anyway.”

Jean grunted. “I’ll say.”

Petra gave him a pat on the back. “Off with you, then. Introduce yourself to him, then shut up and do as he says. Remember, only speak when asked a question, and be polite! Any problems and you come to be. Believe what you will, but I’m on _your_ side.”

Jean gave her a small smile. Crazily enough, Petra reminded him of his mother. He thought of Odette, down in Terra. He had already arranged it with Mikasa that she would look after her when she could if Jean got the job. Even though he knew she was in good hands, the thought of his sister made his stomach clench in worry.

Jean didn’t like working for the Enhanced – he hated it. He hated being up in Caelum, he hated being up in the sky, he hated the master of the house already. But hell, he would put up with it if it would pay for his sister’s medication. A new determination burned in his stomach.

“Oh, and Jean,” Petra caught his attention again.

She glanced to make sure they were alone before lowering her voice. “Watch out, okay? Marco Bodt…despite what you may have heard about him, he’s a good kid. He really is.”

Jean seriously doubted that, especially if he had killed someone – Unenhanced, or not – for no apparent reason.

Petra continued. “Compared to the rest of the Enhanced, he treats us well enough. I don’t know what happened the other day with that maid, though. But listen; no matter how friendly, or nice he is to you, you need to remember that he’s Enhanced. He’s not like you or me; in a few years he’ll be the one persecuting people like us. Be wary of him. Nothing good can come from being friends with him, so promise me you’ll keep your guard up?”

Petra’s warning made him even more uneasy. Jean was beginning to doubt his decision to come up here, but a job was a job. Besides, he wasn’t going to go and be pally with some Enhanced bastard. “I promise. Seriously – you don’t have to worry about me becoming friends with an Enhanced person.”

Petra gave him a smile, and when she smiled her whole face lit up and became softer. She looked younger for a moment. “You seem like a good kid, Kirschtein. See you around.”

♙♙♙

Jean knocked on the polished oak door three times, and took a deep breath, painfully aware of the collar around his throat when he breathed.

“Who is it?” The voice that came from within was warm and friendly.

Jean stood up straight, clasping his hands behind his back. Watch your tongue, he thought to himself. “I’m your new servant, sir,” he said, speaking clearly and trying to keep his voice even.

“Oh – I didn’t think you’d be here this quick. Come in.”

This was it.

Who knew what the person beyond the door would be like? Jean took a deep breath before opening it.

The bedroom was huge; Jean could have fit his apartment in here comfortably four times. It was a beautiful room, decorated tastefully. A huge window took over much of one of the walls, flooding the room with natural light. The carpet under his feet was springy and soft, and as well as the large bed in the center of the room, there was a lot of other furniture; a desk, table and chairs, sofas and bookshelves. There was even a balcony opening out from the window. Someone could probably live completely in here, Jean thought.

And then, he saw him; Marco Bodt. He stood up from where he had been sitting on one of the sofas, and Jean’s heart froze. Same dark hair and dark skin, same freckles dotting across his skin, same sleek metal arm, same eye patch covering one eye, same tall frame.

He had been one of the assholes who had shocked him and Odette.

“You,” Marco breathed. “You’re the one from before!”

Jean opened his mouth, but bit his tongue before he began to yell. Behind his back, his hands were clenching into fists. Just his _fucking_ luck, of all the bratty Enhanced teenage boys he had to serve, it had to be this one.

He shut his mouth and clenched his jaw, looking down in what he hoped looked like a somewhat respectful stance.

Marco stood awkwardly, not quite sure what to say. “What’s your name?” he asked. He was still shaken after the incident with the old maid. No matter what he told himself…he had killed her, and he wasn’t comfortable with that fact. He hoped the same thing wouldn’t happen with his new servant, and now, out of all people to stand before him, it was the kid whose sister Thomas and Nack had picked on.

 _He probably hates me_ , Marco thought.

“Kirschtein,” Jean replied quietly, not letting his eyes rise from the floor. His nails were digging into his palms, and he forced himself to stop. It wouldn’t do to get blood on this fluffy white blanket. "First name, Jean."

What Marco said next surprised him.

“How is that girl?” he asked, voice…not quite timid, but cautious, as if he knew he was approaching a sticky area. “Was she your sister?”

Jean almost retorted with a “ _why do you care_ ” but stopped himself at the last minute. It was strange, because he seemed almost genuine. Now that he thought of it, this was the one who had hesitated, right? He had hesitated before shocking Jean, even when his friends had encouraged him. “Yes, she’s my sister.” He didn’t want to speak about Odette, not in front of this guy. “Sir,” he added.

“Is she alright?”

Damn, he was persistent.

“No.”

It was rude perhaps, too rude considering he had been on the job five minutes. The brief look of concern that splashed across Marco’s freckled face was…confusing, to say the least. Why would he even care? He hadn’t done anything to stop his friends from attacking them in the streets for no reason; he had murdered one of the Unenhanced, one of Jean’s people for no reason.

“I’m sorry about what happened,” he said. “My friends are…a bit wild.” He laughed, and it was a nice sound, but it was not a laughing matter, and Jean was seriously tempted to lunge across the room and attempt to gouge his good eye out.

“Anyway,” Marco continued. Although he wasn’t intimidating like his father, he definitely held a somewhat similar presence. When he said something, he was expecting it to be done. “There are a few things I need you to do, okay? First of all, you can take the laundry basket downstairs and…”

Once again, Jean tuned out slightly.

All he could think about was his own bad luck; he had been unlucky enough to have to serve this asshole. And the worst thing was that he wasn’t an outright asshole in the first place.

He suppressed a sigh, feigned attention, and silently got to work. There were quite a few things he would have loved to say to this Marco Bodt, but for once in his life, he held his tongue.

It was going to be a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> really long time between updates  
> idk when i'll update again but hopefully soon  
> thanks for all the comments and kudos so far! hope you're enjoying  
> pls comment and tell me what you thought!  
> see u later space cowboys


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a very slow change, but a change nonetheless.  
> But the fact remains that he's Enhanced and you're not; and no matter how friendly he is, he's still one of them.

“Unlimited power in the hands of limited people always leads to cruelty.”

-David Mitchell

* * *

The alarm bells rang shrilly at 6am, piercing through the silence of the dorms. Jean blinked a few times before sitting up. He sat up too soon, and whacked his head off of the ceiling.

The dorms were almost identical to the sleeping quarters they’d had when he worked for Nile Dawk; a single large room, stuffed with narrow bunk beds, and a curtain to separate the men from the women.

Jean was on the third bunk. He had forgotten how close he was to the damn ceiling.

Cursing, he ran his hand through his hair before sliding off the top bunk and onto the floor. He got dressed quickly, and washed quickly too. Because he was one of the personal servants to the direct family members, he had to be ready very quickly. It had its advantages; mainly getting the priority to the washrooms over those who weren’t needed immediately.

By six fifteen, he was standing outside Marco Bodt’s room. Petra’s instructions ran through his head; wake him up, open the curtains, tell the kitchen maid’s what he wants for breakfast, bring it up to him, do anything else he asks.

He slid into the room, which was still dark. There were heavy red curtains drawn across the huge windows, which completely blocked out all of the light. He crept over to the bed, where Marco lay on his stomach, sleeping peacefully.

Jean scowled at him.

He reached out, gently shaking his non-metal shoulder. “Sir,” he called. _Dickhead_. “Sir, it’s time to wake up.” Jean sighed, shaking his shoulder more insistently while Marco mumbled something in his sleep. “For fuck’s sake – wake up!”

Slowly, his one visible eye opened, blinking slowly. Marco stifled a yawn, slowly sitting up in the bed. Jean backed away. The older stretched upwards, before looking blearily at Jean. “Oh. Good morning,” he greeted with a sleepy half-smile.

Jean couldn’t stop looking at his bare chest; more specifically, the place where the metal ran into smooth skin. It was strange, almost scary. There was no scarring or puckering of the flesh whatsoever; it looked completely natural, as if he was born with a metal arm, but he wasn’t. He had been made this way. It was as creepy as hell.

“Good morning, uh, sir,” Jean said, in his best “polite” voice. He went over to the largest window, pulling open the curtains and mumbling a curse. The room faced east, so at this time of the morning the sun was rising. It temporarily blinded him, especially after the darkness of the room, but after a moment, he was able to look outside properly.

Jean didn’t like Caelum very much, but this was…amazing, really. The sun was just beginning to peek through the buildings, its rays streaked through the skyscrapers and reflecting off the glass, painting the city like pink and orange war paint. It really was something else. Jean muttered a curse under his breath; living in Terra, you didn’t see many sunrises.

Marco’s eyes didn’t need adjusting to the sudden change in light. Jean suddenly remembered his presence, and his job. “Oh, uh…what d’you want for breakfast?” It wasn’t a good way to ask it; he could have been twenty times politer, but Marco didn’t seem to notice or care.

“Just tell the maids some fruit and bread will do nicely. Oh, and a pot of coffee. They know how I like it.”

Jean nodded, rolling his eyes when he turned his back. He left the bedroom once more, quickly headed for the kitchens. Ten minutes later, he was back in Marco’s room, this time with a tray filled high. Marco had only asked for fruit and bread, yet this tray of food had food better than anything Jean had ever eaten. Freshly baked bread, still warm from the ovens, a large bowl piled high with different fruit – some of which Jean didn’t even know the name of – and a steaming pot of coffee. This meal alone more than Jean ate in a day.

Really, with a class divide like this, how could the Unenhanced not resent the Enhanced?

He nudged the door open with his shoulder, crossing into the room. Marco was wrapped in a dressing gown, sitting down at the table facing his window, flicking through the pages of one of his school textbooks. Jean placed the tray in front of him. He glanced at the book, but could barely understand half of the words in it.

“Thanks. Oh – and I think I’ll have a bath this morning. Run one for me please – not too hot, but warm. After that could you pick up my laundry from downstairs?”

Marco’s bathroom was roughly about the same size as Jean’s apartment. He couldn’t help but feel envious, running the water in a bath twice the size of his shitty-ass couch. He left soon enough, taking Marco’s breakfast tray away (he noticed, barely half of it was eaten. Lucky bastard).

When he gave it to the kitchen staff, he was horrified to see the remaining food thrown down the rubbish chute. “What – why?” he questioned the maid. She gave a shrug, looking at the chute in discontent. “The Enhanced only eat the freshest food,” she said. “Nobody would eat leftovers; once he left it behind, it was rubbish. And the Unenhanced aren’t allowed eat Enhanced food, not even the leftovers.”

Jean was growing more and more frustrated.

Maybe because he was younger, but when he worked for Nile Dawk he hadn’t noticed as much. Sure, Dawk was probably wealthier than the Bodts’, but he hadn’t noticed how wasteful the Enhanced were, he hadn’t noticed how much they took for granted.

He was Marco’s personal caretaker until seven thirty, until he went to school. Breakfast was at eight, a small bowl of unappetizing gruel which he shoveled down before getting to work. The bedroom wasn’t even that dirty, but Jean ended up cleaning it from top to bottom, before going back to Petra. Petra easily gave him a list of jobs to occupy himself with, and he didn’t have a moment to spare until Marco came home.

Marco was the type of guy who kept to a pretty regular routine. He would come home, send Jean to the kitchens to get him something to eat, and then begin his studies. Occasionally his cousin – Ymir, or something? Jean was bad with names – would come in, and they would talk and mess around. He usually ate dinner alone in his bedroom, but occasionally there would be a family dinner in the posh dining room. He sometimes went out in the evenings, to various friends’ houses, or his friends would come over. On weekends, he had training. Either way, Jean would have to follow him around. In fact, from the moment he came home from school, Jean had to stick by his side until he went to sleep.

It was boring and repetitive but…manageable.

It was much better than working for Nile Dawk, in any case.

Marco was nicer than most Enhanced were, without being _too_ nice. Jean doubted he had a foul bone in his body, he doubted he could hate the Unenhanced like his father. He was always courteous enough – greeted Jean, said please and thanks, and phrased his orders like he was asking Jean to do something, rather than telling him to.

Still, he couldn’t help but remember the fact that he had killed the Unenhanced woman who once had Jean’s position.

♙♙♙

Marco had given up on studying, and was sprawled over his desk, on top of his books. “I’m bored,” he muttered, slowly sitting up. He poked reluctantly at a textbook with a metal finger. “Have you ever studied physics, Jean?”

“No, sir.” Jean gritted his teeth. Who did he think he was? Unenhanced education wasn’t exactly great.

“Lucky. It’s such a pain in the ass. And you can drop the “sir” – it’s weird. You’re like, my age, you shouldn’t be calling me _sir_.” Marco made a face.

Jean did his best not to glare. Was he seriously bemoaning the fact that, Sina forbid, he got an education? Privileged asshole. “I don’t think that would be very appropriate, sir.”

Marco gave a sigh, rubbing his hand over his face. “Yeah. Yeah, okay. You’re right.” He was silent for a moment, but seemed to pick up on the bad vibes radiating from Jean. “That was probably a dumb comment, right? I’ve heard education in Terra isn’t as good as it is up here.”

Jean couldn’t help it – he snorted. Marco looked at him, an eyebrow raised.

“Uhh,” Jean began. “You’re right. Sir. Education in Terra is…rare. Practically nonexistent.”

Marco’s brow furrowed. “What? I mean, you’re younger than me, technically you should still be in school.”

Jean gave a small shrug. “I never went.”

The thought seemed to mystify Marco. “What? You never went to school?”

“There aren’t really…schools in Terra, sir. I mean, there are a few people who will try to teach, but…” _they’re taken away by the Enhanced, can’t have us getting too smart._ “It doesn’t really last long.”

“So you’ve no education?”

“Well…I wouldn’t say that, exactly, sir. My mother taught me, see. Not a whole lot, but I can read okay and write alright and do a little math, too.”

Marco frowned, leaning back in his chair. “I never knew there were no schools in Terra, though,” he said, more to himself than to Jean. “This is something we should know, right? Like, I always presumed you still had schools and stuff, just not as good as up here.”

Jean said nothing, afraid he would say something awful back. _Sorry, bro, but we’re not like up here. You can prance around with your stupid physics and philosophy and history but not everyone has that, not everyone has that right._

Marco looked thoughtful. Jean’s gaze fell onto his books. Marco was the son of the head of security, right? He would surely be taking over his position shortly after he left school. Then why did he need to spend so much time studying?

Jean should shut up. He should let the conversation die, and resume his role as a (somewhat) respectful servant. But his curiosity got the better of him; Jean had never been good at obeying the rules. “If you don’t mind me asking, sir…” he began. Marco looked at him again, and he could see his good eye widen in surprise. “If you’re going to take over from your father, why do you need to do all of this…studying?”

Marco gave him a small smile. “Exams. And I mean – they’re not that important but…basically I’m not guaranteed my father’s position. It’s overwhelmingly likely, but not definite. And if I do terribly in these exams…I mean, the people aren’t going to want someone completely incompetent taking over as the head of security. It’s a safety net, I suppose.”

Jean just gave a nod. It was so strange – Marco had spent his life going to school, and learning. He never had to work as a child, to try and make sure his family had enough to eat. Jean doubted he had ever been in a dangerous situation in his life, before the riot, at least. He would probably throw up at the thought of a revolution. His biggest worry was probably these dumb exams that he didn’t really need to pass so he could start working for his father. He didn’t need to worry about random acts of cruelty, or how to care for a sick sibling.

Jean was ridiculously envious.

♙♙♙

It was…slow.

Incredibly slow.

But Jean’s opinion of Marco slowly began to change.

Every Enhanced person Jean had ever met in his life had treated him like scum. They had treated him like he was something under their shoe, only fit to be stepped on. And the truth was, that if you were told you were scum often enough, a part of you began to believe it.

Even here, in this household; if he ran into any of the other Enhanced here, they treated him the exact same way. From Marco’s friends to his family; they all avoided looking at him, and when they occasionally did, they gave him the _look_. The _look_ was something it seemed all Enhanced had mastered; a way of looking coldly, suspiciously at the Unenhanced. Even if it was only a glance they gave him, it never failed to remind Jean of his place.

Marco…wasn’t really like that.

He wasn’t exactly…good. There were some Enhanced that didn’t hate the Unenhanced as much as most, who actually tried to campaign for their rights. Marco was far from being like that. And, he had done some pretty inexcusable things. He had stood by while his friends had picked on Odette. He had let his friends take advantage of a sick girl, let them torture her for their amusement. And he had murdered an Unenhanced woman, for no apparent reason. Jean didn’t think he would ever be able to forgive anyone for that.

But he was…pleasant to deal with. Far kinder than Nile Dawk, anyway. All in all, serving Marco Bodt wasn’t that bad – Jean reckoned it would have been worse with most other people his age, and for that he was thankful.

Marco wasn’t even that strict with him. Yes, he had expectations, yes he had things he needed done and fully expected Jean to carry out those tasks, but he didn’t have a stick up his ass, like most of them did. If Jean forgot a “sir,” or if he forgot his place momentarily and made a smart comment, he wouldn’t be punished. Rather, if he made a comment on something, even if it was at Marco’s expense, he seemed to laugh rather than be pissed off. In general, although he still watched his tongue and behavior, Jean was a lot more relaxed than he had expected to be.

Were most Enhanced like this? Jean sincerely doubted it. After all; on his first day working for Nile Dawk he had forgotten to call him “sir,” once. He had been whipped for a tiny slip up. Still had the scars crisscrossing on his back. Jean grimaced at the thought.

Another thing about Marco was that he had this…curiosity. Maybe it was because his previous maid was a much older woman – maybe with a boy only slightly younger than him he felt more comfortable asking questions. Because ask questions he did. The Enhanced seemed to know surprisingly little about the Unenhanced and Terra. Marco didn’t know much, at the very least. Jean could imagine the type of propaganda that was released about the Unenhanced.

First, he had been surprised about their lack of an education system. Then, he began asking questions about work done there, and living conditions. Jean had been suspicious at first, and had asked why he wanted to know. Marco had shrugged, saying that he wanted to be head of security someday. That wasn’t just security for the Enhanced. He had said he wanted to try and work for the Unenhanced as well. Jean had scoffed, but answered all of his questions anyway. After all, he had to speak when spoken to.

They ended up speaking more than was strictly appropriate, but Marco hardly seemed to care. Jean did, though; he needed to be careful. He only ever spoke to Marco when it was just the two of them, and he always had his guard up. Although Marco could relax around Jean, Jean could never, ever let himself relax around him. One tiny slip up could cross the line. One tiny slip up could convince Marco’s father he wasn’t suited for the job. One tiny slip up overheard by an Enhanced could end up badly for him, if they thought he was overstepping his boundaries.

He answered Marco’s questions, yes; quietly, when he was certain they were alone. When anyone else was nearby, he hardly even looked at him.

In fairness to the older boy, he seemed to know when he was asking too much.

The only major occurrence of Marco asking Jean something he didn’t want to answer, was on Saturday evening, after Marco’s training. He had asked Jean about where he had worked beforehand.

“With Mr. Dawk, right? That’s what I heard from my father.”

Jean had nodded. “Yes, sir. I used to work for Mr. Dawk, a few years back.”

Marco gave him a sidelong glance. “I’ve only met him a few times, but he’s…very intimidating. That’s an understatement; I’m terrified of him, and I’m the son of the head of security! I can’t imagine what it would have been like to work for him.”

Jean suppressed a shudder. “It’s…” he had to be careful about what he said – he couldn’t exactly go around badmouthing someone important in the Military Police. “Definitely nicer here.”

Marco’s lip curled upward in a small smile. “I figured. What was…he like?”

Jean swallowed tightly, his nails digging into the palms of his hands. “He was…a little trigger happy with his whips.”

Marco tilted his head, looking vaguely put-off by the thought. “Whips? Why would he use whips? I thought most just used their dials to punish disobedience.”

His casual tone irritated Jean. “Usually,” he admitted. “But dials don’t leave scars. Mr. Dawk had a fondness for making sure his…handiwork left a reminder.”

Marco almost seemed confused. “Scars?”

Jean nodded, slightly unsure of himself. They were alone in Marco’s room, but he strained his ear, trying to listen for any footsteps. It wouldn’t do well to have him caught badmouthing Nile Dawk. “Yeah. Scars. I still have mine,” he muttered.

Marco’s eye lit up. “Scars! I totally forgot that the Unenhanced scarred,” he said. Oh yeah – Jean had forgotten that the Enhanced rarely had scars. Any scar they had was usually removed surgically. Not for the Unenhanced, though. “Could you show me?” he continued, excitedly. “Your scars, I mean.”

Jean froze. _No_ , he wanted to reply. _No, fuck off_. Marco probably didn’t have any scars, and wouldn’t understand. These were…personal, almost. Not something he wanted some naïve Enhanced brat to be gawking at. But could he really say no to him? His mouth was dry.

Marco seemed to pick up on the tension that he suddenly showed. Eye widening slightly, he shook his head. “No. Wait. I probably went a little too far there, right?”

“Right, sir.”

He chuckled awkwardly. “My bad.”

Jean didn’t say anything. Marco was silent for a while, thumbing through the pages of a book. “Y’know Jean,” he said after a moment. “It’s a pity you aren’t Enhanced. If you were, I’m sure we could have been friends.”

Jean said nothing.

♙♙♙

Petra sighed, running her hand through her hair. “He’s having friends over?”

Jean nodded, leaning against the wall. “Yeah. A study session, apparently.”

“How many?”

“He said there’d be about eight of them there. Told me to tell you because they’ll be wanting snacks and refreshments and shit like that.”

Petra sighed. “This is the last thing I need,” she muttered. “As if I wasn’t busy enough!”

Jean frowned, sensing there was a little more to this. “You seemed more stressed out than usual,” he commented carefully. “Is there something wrong with his friends?”

Petra mimicked his stance, leaning against the wall and crossing her arms. She glanced around, but of course, they were alone. Besides, they didn’t have to worry about anyone Enhanced overhearing them; none would bother coming down to the Unenhanced quarters.

“There’s nothing wrong with them,” Petra said. “They’re just…Enhanced.”

Jean raised an eyebrow. “Well, he’s not going to be pally with the Unenhanced, so-”

Petra shook her head, waving a hand to shut Jean up. “You probably know Jean, that…well. Marco isn’t exactly the nicest towards the Unenhanced, but he’s better than most.”

Jean nodded. “Nicer than Nile Dawk, anyway,” he said darkly.

She nodded in agreement. “The thing is that usually, you have two types of Enhanced. There are the ones who completely ignore you, and act as if you don’t exist.”

Jean snorted. “Ymir.”

“Well – yeah. But they’re not that bad, because if they’re ignoring you, they’re not treating you badly. The other type of Enhanced people are the ones who mess with you for fun. Anything from badmouthing you, to-”

“Whipping you? Using their dials? Murdering you when you’ve done nothing wrong?”

Petra gave Jean a look. “Marco is neither.”

“Apart from, y’know, murdering his previous servant.”

“ _Jean_!”

“What was with that anyway?”

Petra gave Jean a withering look. “No one knows. Marco is polite to everyone, including his servants. He has never laid a hand on any of us before. And then one day, Mr. Bodt called him and his old maid into his office, and she never walked out again. I don’t know why it happened, but it’s best to forget about it.”

“Forget about it?” Jean asked, eyebrows rising. “How am I supposed to just forget about it? If you hadn’t noticed, if it happens again I’m gonna be the one killed!”

“Lower your voice!” Petra hissed. They both were silent for a moment. “He’s polite, though, yeah?”

“A fuckin’ saint,” Jean grunted. “Has manners, asks me how my day was when he gets home, asks me how my sisters doing – he’s polite. But he’s polite to everyone, yeah?”

“Exactly. It doesn’t seem like him to take anything out on the staff, right?”

Jean tilted his head for a moment, thinking about the night of the riot. He could remember it all too well; clutching Odette as her body kept twitching, having his back to those boys, still recovering from the last shock, as they called for Marco to go on, use his dial. He remembered all too well the sick feeling as he waited for the next shock to come. Marco hadn’t used his dial that night, despite being perfectly able to, despite his friends egging him on.

“No, he doesn’t,” he admitted slowly. “Still.”

Petra shook her head slowly. “I’ve gone way off topic. My original point is, Jean, that you don’t have that much experience with Enhanced teenagers. Most of them have only recently gotten the hang of their Enhancements, and they’re a little drunk on their own power. They’re always itching for an excuse to use them.”

Jean frowned, his brow creasing. “What, they’d even use it on the staff in someone else’s house?”

“It’s not uncommon,” Petra said wearily. “We’re nothing but scum, and there are usually a lot of people scrambling to replace us. If an Unenhanced died up here, it would barely even be an inconvenience.” Petra paused, tilting her head to look at Jean. “You’ll need to stay up there with them. Just, be careful okay? Some of those boys he’s friends with, they’re a bad influence. I’m sure you heard about that riot recently, right? They started that up.”

Jean’s hands clenched into fists. “Yeah, I’ve heard of it,” he said bitterly. “It was my damn sister they used to test their dials.”

Petra’s face went slack. “That was you?” she hissed, shaking her head. “Okay Jean, it’s best if we keep that between us, alright?”

Jean nodded. He slowly unclenched his fists.

Someone called Petra from the busy kitchen. “I’ve to go,” she said, beginning to walk away. “Just – watch yourself, Kirschtein. Don’t give them a reason to hurt you.”

♙♙♙

They were in one of the countless rooms in the house. Jean really didn’t understand why they needed so many damn rooms when there were only four, sometimes five living there. He hadn’t even been in half of them, and he still sometimes got lost navigating his way through the corridors.

This one was small, for an Enhanced house, which meant that Marco and his friends would consider it small, while in reality it would house Jean’s entire apartment comfortably, more than once. It was a cozy room, filled with comfortable couches and armchairs and a huge bookcase and a massive TV. Sometimes Marco hung out with friends here.

Today though, he was determined to actually get some work done, or so he told Jean.

“We have exams in a few weeks, and we need to pass,” he explained, spreading his textbooks on one of the tables. Jean didn’t bother responding – what would he say? _You don’t need to pass because even if you don’t fucking show up you’re gonna be living in this wealth?_ No. “And some of my friends…they won’t study unless there’s someone there to make them.”

“That sounds vaguely threatening,” Jean muttered.

Marco laughed.

“Shit,” he muttered after a moment. “I left my math book upstairs, will you-”

“On it,” Jean said, leaving the room. It took him a minute to remember which damn way it was to Marco’s bedroom, but he got there eventually. There were some books on his desk, but none of them were math. No math book on his shelves either. _He must have made a mistake_ , Jean concluded. Either that or his eyesight was giving out.

He looked around the room again. No matter how many times he was in here, no matter how many times he had cleaned it from top to bottom; he would never get over the sheer wealth in this place. The bed was worth more than his entire apartment. Hell, the bed was probably worth more than he was.

He stood, glancing around, but of course; he was alone. Jean walked over, turned his back, and flopped down on the bed. It was incredibly soft and comfortable; so much nicer than the hard floor or hard bunks he was used to. The sheets and pillows were silky smooth, and the blankets were so soft and warm…for a moment, Jean imagined what it would be like to sleep in a bed like that every night. He spread his arms out, sighing.

A soft chuckle made him jump out of his skin.

Marco stood at the door, leaning on the doorframe. Jean jumped off of the bed hastily, embarrassment turning his cheeks red. “S-sorry, sir! I, uh, I-”

Marco laughed again. “It’s alright,” he said, a good natured smile on his face. “In case you’re wondering, I found my math book.”

Still with burning cheeks, Jean nodded.

(He couldn’t help but notice; Marco brushed something like that off easily with a smile and a laugh. He doubted other Enhanced would do that.”

He followed Marco through the house, back to the den. At one point they passed Ymir, Marco’s intimidating cousin. Marco had invited her to join him and his friends. Ymir had asked if a Historia was going. When Marco said no, she scoffed and walked away.

Marco’s friends came soon enough, all followed by a different Unenhanced servant. They bounded into the room, most of them beaming and full of energy and reluctant to study. Turned out, that more came than he had been expecting.

Including the two bastards who had used their dials on Odette.

His hands clenched into fists, and the anger was back, creeping through his bloodstream like poison. Here they were, greeting Marco with smiles, messing with the other Enhanced teenagers, laughing. They would have been murderers, and if they had killed her? They wouldn’t care. Just like how they wouldn’t care about how Jean was here, working his ass off so she might survive.

For a brief moment, thoughts of flying at them and pounding their dumb faces in crossed his mind. He pushed them out; as tempting as they were, Jean stood no chance of getting near them in a room full of Enhanced teenagers.

The other Unenhanced servants stood at the walls, heads bent. They didn’t look at him, or each other, and Jean was itching to try and communicate with him. Right across from him stood a girl with red hair. He tried to make eye contact with her, but her gaze never left the ground.

A good Unenhanced servant lived to serve. They knew their place, they knew they were vermin. They never spoke to anyone unless asked a question. They controlled their feelings, hiding them behind unreadable masks. Those were the rules of being Unenhanced.

Jean had never been good at following rules. He could never just turn his emotions off, like a machine. But now, he was remembering the anger, how furious he was – he thought of Eren, directing all that fury and hate into Survey in an attempt to exact revenge – and Jean looked down.

He tried to smother his emotions. Don’t show anything. Forget they’re here. They’re untouchable – all of them.

He didn’t notice the slightly worried glance Marco sent him. He focused on hoping that those two boys wouldn’t recognize him.

Eventually, they all quietened down and began to work; the only noises were the turning of pages and scribbling of notes. That was, until, an hour later, one of the girls – a brunette with long hair tied in a ponytail, shut her book. “I can’t do this anymore,” she said with a yawn. “I’m starving.”

“Yeah,” said the boy beside her, a small guy with a buzz cut. “Let’s take a break.” Murmurs of agreement spread through the group, and the first girl turned around, hanging over the back of the couch. “Oi,” she called, clicking her fingers to get Jean’s attention. “You. Go down to the kitchens, tell them Sasha’s here. I’ve been here enough times for them to know what I want.”

Jean gave a nod, and was about to turn when –

“Hoooooly shit, wait a second. Turn around.”

The voice was too familiar.

“Nack…” he heard Marco say in a warning tone. Jean took a deep breath, slowly turning around.

The two boys from the night of the riot sat together on one of the couches, gawking at him. “Holy shit, Thomas,” said the first voice, Nack, presumably. “It’s _him_.”

“Who?” asked one of the others, a blond kid only looking up from his book now.

“You’re the one from back then,” Thomas said. “The night of the riot.”

Jean felt his mouth go dry. Thomas stood up, walking towards him. Marco sighed heavily. “Thomas. Leave him alone.”

Thomas stopped when he was right in front of Jean, barely a foot away. Jean forced himself to keep looking down, even when he waved a hand in front of his face. “Hm,” he said, sounding peeved. “You’re so quiet now – you certainly weren’t quiet back then.”

Jean said nothing. He forced himself to think of Odette, and not how much he wanted to smash Thomas’s nose in right now. Or about how much he wanted to run. The fear was coiling in his stomach, and he hated to admit it. He was so distracted he didn’t hear what Nack said back.

The tension in the room was rising. Out of his peripheral vision he could see that red headed servant looking at him. “Wait,” Sasha interrupted. “He’s the guy who was with that girl? Why the hell is he working here?”

“Because we hired him,” Marco said dryly.  “And he’s worked well so far, so I’d appreciate if you could just let him do his damn job.”

The fact that Marco was…standing up for him made his mind reel.

“We’re just having a little fun,” Nack said.

“Yeah, the same fun that started a riot.”

“Whatever,” muttered Thomas, before going back to studying Jean. Jean could feel his heart rate speed up. “So, did she live? Who was that bitch you cared about so much? D’you fuck her or someth-”

“She’s my sister,” Jean had hissed, looking up and glaring at Thomas. It was only in the stunned silence that followed that he realized what he had done.

Thomas looked surprised, to say the least. He watched his eyes narrow, and next thing he had pulled his hand back before striking it across Jean’s face, hard. Jean let out a small cry, stumbling back. “Don’t you know your place, scum?” Thomas hissed.

“Thomas!” Marco yelled, anger in his voice for the first time since Jean had known him.

Thomas looked furious. “How dare you speak back to me, how dare you speak to your superiors like that, Unenhanced scum.”

“Stop. Now.” Marco stood up.

He punctuated the last word with another strike, this one hitting Jean in the jaw. He grunted, wanting nothing more than to run, but that would probably make everything worse. “I bet that’s easier to take than the dial though, right?”

His smile was like a shark’s, and Jean’s eyes widened as his hand flew to his dial.

But someone caught his wrist; it was that girl, Sasha. One minute she had been across the room, but now she was here, and the goofy personality had dropped completely. “Thomas,” she said, her voice light. “Marco told you to stop, and this is his house! So you can either stop, or get out.”

Thomas looked from her, to Marco, to Jean. Eventually he pulled out of her grasp, moving to sit back down again.

“You can go get me my snack now,” she said, turning to Jean.

Jean nodded and left the room, but he didn’t move after that. He pressed his back against the closed door, straining his ear. His hands were shaking and he could feel his heartbeat pounding against his ribcage, like someone was belting out a loud rhythm on his chest. His skin stung where he had been hit – man, those kids were _strong_.

“What the fuck, man?” asked Thomas. “Why the hell are you so damn possessive of him, or whatever?”

Silence. And then;

“He didn’t do anything, and I don’t appreciate you beating my staff just because he annoyed you slightly.”

“That’s what they’re for, isn’t it? To serve us. And if they forget their place, it’s ours to remind them of it.”

There was a noise, like a tut of disapproval.

“Oh, you disagree, Armin?”

“Yeah, I do. I don’t see the point of bullying them around for no reason.”

“Ugh, you’re sounding like Marlowe. Thank god he’s not here. And I did have a reason – he spoke back to me.”

“I’m speaking back to you now, you gonna hit me?”

“Different. You’re Enhanced, he’s not.”

“Besides,” that was Nack’s voice. “If it was me, I would have given him a ten the second he walked in here, Marco. For what happened that night.”

“I’m not you,” Marco said coolly. “I’m not as trigger happy with my dial as you are, either.”

“Uhh,” came a voice. The kid with the buzz cut. “If you guys would shut up and listen, you’d be able to realize he’s still outside, listening to us.”

Damn enhanced hearing.

Jean bolted to the kitchens.

♙♙♙

Marco grunted, dropping low and rolling to avoid the energy blasts. He came to his feet, and when the chunk of wood was hurled towards him, he slammed through it with his right arm. The metal limb sank through it like a knife through butter. He whirled, catching the first instructor by the shoulder and hauled him up, throwing him into the second.

Another instructor ran towards him, but Marco dropped to one knee, his other leg darting out to take out his legs. When he stumbled, Marco shot up and grabbed him by the shirt with his metal arm, flinging him to the other side of the room.

Jean watched Marco’s training session from the corner. So far, it consisted of Marco throwing about like, ten other guys twice his size and age. He had sat in on one of his training sessions before, but he seemed much more…intense, this time. As if he was really blowing off steam, as if he was angry.

It was Saturday morning. One more day before he could see Odette again. The morning after the disastrous study session with his friends.

In the end, when he went to the kitchens he had ran into Petra. She of course, had seen the red streaks on his cheeks, the trembling of his hands, and the look in his eyes. She sent someone else up with the snacks and to serve for the evening, and brought Jean into the kitchen to press ice against his face. She could be intimidating, but she really did care about her staff.

Marco’s instructor called a break, and the men he was sparring with all left the room. Marco stayed, wiping at the back of his neck with a towel. “Jean?” he called. Jean grabbed the jug of water and a glass, bringing it down to him. The taller boy slumped on the ground, drinking gratefully. “Thanks.”

He shifted into a more comfortable position. “You can sit too, y’know,” he said.

“Okay.” Jean hesitated, before sitting beside him.

Silence hung between them. Not unusual, but unlike the usual…professional silences, this one felt awkward. “I’m sorry about last night,” he said, after a while. “Thomas and Nack’s enhanced abilities must be that they’re extremely stupid.”

Jean was a little taken aback by the apology. “It’s…uh, it’s…alright, I guess. Would have been worse if you hadn’t stopped it.”

“That was Sasha, mostly,” Marco said. His good eye locked onto Jean’s for a minute, before drifting to the two dark marks on his face. His frown deepened. “I didn’t stop them last time,” he said quietly.

Jean shook his head.

“You’re seeing your sister tomorrow, right?” Marco asked.

“Yeah.”

Another silence.

“I really am sorry, Jean. Not just for last night, but for what they did to you and your sister.”

It sounded so sincere that Jean felt like he had been slapped in the face again. He opened his mouth and shut it again, like a goldfish, unsure of what to say.

Marco took a deep breath, eyes leaving Jean’s bruises. “I mean,” he ran his flesh hand across the steel plates of his right arm. “All my life, I’ve known that we had this power of y…over the Unenhanced. And I just accepted it as normal. But now, I’ve seen what we can do. What I can do. And I don’t like it as much as I did.”

His words were practically falling over each other as he spoke, rushing to get it out. He gave Jean a weird look; almost nervous about how he’d respond, while relieved to have finally said it. Jean was stunned, and looked at him stupidly for a few minutes.

“Thanks,” he said, after a while. Not really fitting, but…Jean felt like he needed to say it.

Marco gave him a smile then; a genuine one, even if it was small. In retrospect, compared to others, Marco really wasn’t a bad person to work for.

Silence fell again, but this one was much more companionable.

♙♙♙

“What the fuck happened to your face?” Odette asked, as soon as he walked in the door.

He ignored her question at first, coming in to wrap his arms around her gently. He could feel her smiling into his shoulder. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, bro,” she said, pushing him away. “But what did you do to your face? Try to fix it, or something?”

“Oi.”

Odette gave him a grin. Jean sat down on one end of the couch, and she rested her feet on his lap. It was strange, being back in this dump after spending two weeks in Caelum. “A petty Enhanced bastard, that was what happened,” he said, by way of explanation. He didn’t mention it was the two who had used their dials on her.

Odette rolled her eyes. “I hate you having to work for them,” she said.

Jean scoffed. “What, you gonna tell me I should be working for Survey instead? Well, before you get started, Eren already gave me _that_ lecture.”

Odette rolled her eyes. “No, idiot. Survey is a lost cause already – I don’t know how Eren or anyone else can believe we can overthrow the Enhanced. You’re better off without them.” She was silent for a moment. “I just hate the fact that you’re away nearly all week, at their mercy.”

“We need the money, Odette.”

“We’ve managed fine before.”

“That was before you got sick again.”

“Yeah?” her voice was rising. Not good; it was best for her to stay calm, in case she would get too worked up. “Well I’d rather be sick if you were here, than be wealthy when you’re up doing God knows what for them.”

She finished with a cough.

Jean sighed. “I don’t want to do it,” he agreed. “But you’re all I have left. Mom’s gone, Dad was never really here to begin with, and if you’re gone, I’ll be alone. And I’d take seeing you once a week over never seeing you again.”

Odette was silent. “Whatever,” she said eventually, but Jean could tell she wasn’t happy. “Just be careful around them, right?”

“I know. I survived Nile Dawk, I can survive Jeremiah Bodt.” Jean rubbed absentmindedly at the bruises on his face. “Besides, I only really see his son. And for an Enhanced guy, he’s pretty decent.”

Odette snorted. “They’re all bastards on the inside.”

“Don’t curse.”

“Pfft. You’re one to talk, _mom_.”

“I’m not your mother.”

“No, she was killed by _them_.”

Jean sighed. “We don’t know that-”

“Oh, come on, Jean.” Odette leaned back against the armrest, ash brown hair falling over her spindly shoulders. “Where else is she going to be? If you think she’s gonna waltz in and come home someday, then you’re just as much of a dreamer as Eren Jaeger.”

Jean didn’t say anything for a minute. “You’re not exactly making this easy, Odette.”

“Yeah. I know.”

Jean looked over to her, and was alarmed to see tears brimming in her eyes. She suddenly looked exhausted, as if she was weary from her outburst. Jean opened his mouth, about to try and comfort her, when the apartment door slammed open.

“Mikasa?”

Odette quickly wiped at her eyes as Mikasa stormed in. But it wasn’t her usual calm self; she was panicked. Her grey eyes were blown wide, and the look on her face could only be described as fearful. Immediately, Jean felt a twist in his stomach. Mikasa was scared, and she was one of the most fearless people he knew. But there was also a fierce, determined glint in her eyes. From old missions for Survey, Jean recognized it as the look she had before a fight.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Eren,” she responded immediately. “He’s gone and gotten himself caught.”

The blood drained out of Jean’s face. “What?”

“It wasn’t much,” she added quickly. “He wasn’t caught with Survey.”

Jean exhaled heavily, letting his head fall back on the couch. That was something, at least; if he had been caught doing something for Survey, he would have been executed on the spot. “What happened?” he asked, standing up. Odette sat up straight.

“He was caught stealing,” Mikasa said. “He was caught by the guards. They – they whipped him in the square, he’s still there.”

Jean winced. Whippings from guards were just as bad as the whippings Nile Dawk had given out. The victims were set hanging from their wrists in the main square of Terra, whipped in public by the Enhanced and left there to hang, no food, no water, until they decided to release him.

“Idiot,” Jean muttered.

“Help me free him,” Mikasa said immediately. “I can nearly do it myself – I just need a distraction.”

“What – me?”

“Yes, you.”

“Why me? Why not one of your accomplices in Survey?”

“Because they’re Survey – if one of them were caught, they could be executed.”

“And if I’m caught? Worst case scenario, I’m executed. Best case scenario? I’m whipped, and I lose my job, and lose a way to pay for Odette’s medicine.”

“Jean, please-”

“Jean.” Odette swung her legs off of the couch. “You should do it. While you’ve been off playing slave for some stuck up Enhanced kid, Mikasa’s been the one caring for me and keeping me company. We owe her this much, at least.”

Jean looked at Odette. She was pissed at him, that much was clear. He could kind of understand how she felt; she felt like he was abandoning her. Leaving her down here, while he went to Caelum. But it wasn’t that way at all.

He glanced at Mikasa. Eren and Mikasa were close friends, but the risk of getting caught…

Odette had always admired Mikasa. She was only one example of how strong women could be, Mikasa was competent and strong and smart and beautiful, all in one. She was everything Odette dreamed of being, but could never be.

She really was older than her fifteen years, Jean thought.

He turned back to Mikasa with a sigh. “You better have a plan, Ackerman.”

♙♙♙

They waited until curfew fell.

By 10pm, every evening, all Unenhanced citizens were required to stay inside. Of course, it didn’t stop them from going outside – everyone knew how to run and do their best to dodge the Military Police – but it cleared the streets for the most part.

Jean knew from Survey missions how the guards patrolled: there were always at least two on the rooftops, a pair for every few streets. More pairs walked the streets, looking for stray Unenhanced to punish. In the main square, where Eren was, there would be twice that many. No wonder Mikasa needed a distraction to get a chance to free him.

Jean darted through the night, pressing close to the shadows of the buildings. In Caelum, there were always bright lights, so even at night it was never really dark. Down in Terra, it was always dark. Above, the lights of Caelum twinkled, and there were dim streetlights every few meters. Jean was wearing his darkest clothes, and to an Unenhanced, he would be near invisible. He wouldn’t have the same luck with the Enhanced.

As silent as a mouse, he crept along the street. He darted into an alleyway when he heard a pair of guards turn the corner.

“Hey,” he heard one say. “Did you hear that?”

Jean moved as fast as he could while making as little noise as possible. He headed down the alleyway, coming to a wall. A dead end. He could hear the guards getting closer. Taking a few steps back, he ran and jumped, landing on a trashcan and jumping again. His hands curled around the top of the wall, his feet scrambled to find purchase on the old brick. He swung himself over, letting himself hang on the other side, just out of sight of the guards. He waited until they moved away before hauling himself up on the wall.

From this height, he could scan the low rooftops. The rooftops of Terra were like a maze: all the same height, with massive skyscrapers rising out of the ground at random intervals. It was mostly quiet down here; talk and crying and laughter could just about be heard. Above, he could just about hear the hum of traffic and busy Enhanced life.

He studied the rooftops. The guards all stood out in the dark, with their bright uniforms. Moving quietly, Jean crept across the length of the wall, keeping still and preparing to drop at any moment. He was near the main square, now. Near Eren. He slid off of the wall, landing in a crouch at the corner of a street. He dumped the backpack off of his shoulders, yanking it open.

Ah, distractions. Mikasa’s plan had been thought through, at least, but a lot could go wrong.

Jean picked out the first firework (when he had asked her how she had gotten a hold of fucking fireworks, she responded with “the black market, _duh_.”) and set it into the ground. Pulling the lighter out of his pocket, he quickly lit it.

No time to be quiet now.

Jean raced across the street, vaulting over a heap of rubbish and crouching. The firework screamed as it shot into the air, raining purple sparks. The effect was immediate; Unenhanced faces crowding to look outside of windows, Enhanced guards racing to inspect the scene. Jean grinned, jumping to his feet and running again.

He ran across three streets before lighting the next one. He continued to run, edging closer to the main square to get the attention of the guards before running away, leading them on a wild goose chase. The adrenaline began to pump through his veins; he had forgotten what this was like. Running for your life, the thrill of a mission, the anticipation and excitement, knowing that you were defying the Enhanced. He found himself grinning as he raced along the street.

He nearly laughed, making the sky explode with colors, as the Enhanced guards got more and more confused. With any luck, the guards around the main square were searching for the culprit, and not paying attention to Mikasa. Checking his bag, he frowned, seeing only one firework left. Better make this one count.

“There!” he heard one call. “There he is!”

It was always exciting until they found you. Jean yanked his hood up, pumping his arms through the air as he willed his body to move faster. His feet slammed into the ground, picking up speed. The fear began to kick in, especially as he could hear his pursuers gaining on him.

He was nearly at the main square now, once he made sure Mikasa and Eren were out of there, he would go down to the underground; the true slums of Terra, and lose them there. Speeding up, he jumped, grabbing hold of a windowsill. His muscles screamed in protest as he pushed himself up, but he didn’t let himself stop. He kept pushing onwards, hauling himself up to the next windowsill.

There was a terrifying moment when the brick crumbled and he lost his grip, hanging from one hand from the window of a third floor. If he fell, surely he would break his foot, and be left for the Enhanced. He couldn’t let that happen. Gritting his teeth, he swung up and caught the windowsill with his other hand. He climbed up the side of the building, rolling onto the rooftop just as the Enhanced reached it.

He flung his bag down into the face of the first one climbing the roof, sprinting away before he could focus on him and use his dial. He kept running across the uneven rooftops, slipping several times on broken slates. He didn’t stop running though; if he stopped he would be caught.

He thought of Eren and Mikasa, who were hopefully making their way underground. He thought of Odette, strong spirited as ever, waiting for him to come back. He thought of Marco, lying in the lap of luxury and completely unaware of what was going on, but fully expecting to see him tomorrow.

Jean ran faster.

The Enhanced were on the roofs now, and they were gaining fast. They were stronger and faster than him; it was only a matter of time. Still holding the last firework, Jean lit it awkwardly while still running. There was a sudden shock as his collar buzzed, and the next thing he knew pain was flashing down through his whole body. He cried out, and nearly fell to his knees. He threw the firework behind him; just in time.

It went off, spinning madly, and nearly flew into the face of the nearest guard. It exploded in a shower of green sparks, and Jean could feel the heat from it at his back. The guard lost his focus on Jean, and the pain disappeared. Jean was on the main square now. He grabbed a drainage pipe and slid down it to the ground.

Mikasa was still there.

He bolted across the square to where she was struggling to untie Eren from the wooden frame. They doubled as gallows, but for cases like Eren, they simply let him hang by his wrists. His shirt was off, instead leaving a horrible layer of bloody scars on his back. He was unconscious, and there was another man out beside him.

“The last of the guards only left at that last one,” Mikasa said, as Jean helped her untie Eren. They finally got it loose, and he slumped to the ground, to be caught by his sister. “I only just got here.”

She swung him over her shoulder, staggering a little under his weight. Jean glanced at the other man hanging by his wrists.

“C’mon,” he hissed. “We can’t just leave him.”

Mikasa hesitated, and then nodded, helping him untie the man. “You’ll have to carry him,” she said. “And we’ll have to move fast.” They got him free just as one of the guards yelled, pointing them out to her comrades.

Jean slung the man over his back, and they both shot off. “Split up,” he yelled to Mikasa at the first fork in the road. She nodded, moving left. Jean headed right.

It was harder this way. The man was heavy, and he was losing speed quickly. His heart was racing, but he was already tired. And he couldn’t move up onto the roofs with someone on his back.

He judged by the sounds behind him that the Enhanced were splitting up to try and catch them. He breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short lived. He could hear one pair of footprints following him. Would he be able to take on a guard?

Guess it was time to find out.

Jean couldn’t run for much longer. He slowed, turning to face the guard. All he saw was a flash of a bright uniform, fire crackling in a man’s hand, and he raised his arms in an effort to protect himself.

And then there was a smash, a grunt, and the guard fell forward, landing face first on the ground with blood spurting from a head wound.

Jean’s eyes widened, and he stumbled back a few steps.

Three people came out from behind the corner, one holding a metal pipe that still had the guard’s blood on it, from when they hit him around the head with it. Recognition flickered in Jean’s eyes as he recognized the trio; some of the most lethal Unenhanced he had met, some of the most skillful in all of Survey.

“A-Annie,” he managed, after a moment or two. “Reiner, Bertl!”

They didn’t waste time with greetings. “What the hell are you doing out here, Kirschtein?” Annie Leonhardt questioned, twirling the pipe in her fingers. “You would have been Enhanced food if it wasn’t for us.”

Reiner put a big hand on Jean’s shoulder. “We can ask questions later, Annie,” he said, before turning to Jean. Usually he was good humored and kind hearted, but right now, he had a serious expression on his face. “We need to talk with you Jean. Survey need to talk to you.”

Jean was confused, the past few minutes having passed in a blur. He was extremely relieved; he had been saved, but worried for Miaksa, and as much as he liked Reiner, there was no way he was going back to Survey.

“No,” he said, after a moment, but he didn’t shake Reiner’s hand off. “I’m done with Survey.”

“We just saved your life,” Annie hissed. “Talk to use in private, you owe us at least that.”

“I…” Jean began.

“Uhh…,” Bertholdt cut in, the gentle giant taking a few steps towards them. “Can we argue underground? There are more Enhanced headed this way.”

Reiner looked at Jean, eyebrows raised in question. “You coming or not?”

Jean sighed. “Fine.”

“Then come on,” said Annie. “We need to get off the streets.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoa, so thanks for all of the support!  
> im glad people are liking this, bc im enjoying writing it and im looking forward to where i can go with it.  
> thanks for kudos and comments, too!  
> this chapters, uh. shorter than the last one, but anyway.  
> also shoutout to the lovely [irisnairel!](http://irisnairel.tumblr.com/) was totally surprised when i saw enhanced on one of their fic rec lists, but needless to say i was flattered! ty bb!
> 
> comments motivat me a lot so pls if u want leave a comment!! constructive criticism is v welcome always


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Change is a funny thing.

“By changing nothing, nothing changes.”

-Tony Robbins

* * *

 

Years and years and years ago, before there was Caelum and Terra, when there was only one city on the ground, there was an underground train system. When the Enhanced began to build upwards, it was forgotten. The Skyline train was built up in Caelum, along with other airborne vehicles; hovercars and vultures; the incredibly fast machines used by the Military Police in the air.

The trains in Terra stopped immediately; transport like that was for the Enhanced, not the Unenhanced. But the tunnels were left there, and over time many of the Unenhanced moved in. Now, it was always filled with the Unenhanced, sleeping and living down there. Terra was hugely overpopulated, so whenever someone didn’t have a roof over their heads, they tended to end up underground. Anyone on the run also went down; the Enhanced were very reluctant to go anywhere underground, and they weren’t familiar with the maze of tunnels. Besides, with the huge amount of people down there, it would be nearly impossible to find anyone down there. The black market could be found down there too.

The headquarters of Survey were also down there.

Jean took a quick glance at the Enhanced man who had followed on him. He was lying face down, with the blood gushing from a gash across his temple. Annie certainly had a strong swing. He nudged him in the arm with his toe, turning him onto his back. He studied his blank face. It was the same guard that had encouraged Marco and his damn friends to hurt Odette.

“Is he dead?” Jean asked.

Annie gave a shrug, looking over her shoulder. “Should be. I swung hard. I heard the crack.”

Something coiled in Jean’s stomach, something sickeningly smug and triumphant. It nearly made him heave. Jean spat down on the man.

“C’mon,” Reiner grunted, tossing the unconscious Unenhanced man Jean had saved over his shoulders. He was a lot taller than Jean, and much stronger. He was more able to carry him than he was. “We need to go.”

Bertholdt led the way, and they scampered down the streets, keeping to the shadows. As they crept along, Jean turned to Annie. “What about Mikasa? Will she be okay?”

Annie nodded, shoving Jean’s shoulder and pushing him along.

Jean frowned. “Wait a second – was this whole thing a ruse? To get me to meet with Survey?”

Annie rolled her blue eyes. “Please; you’re not that important. Mikasa requested help to free Eren, and the Commander declined. The Corporal realized that she would go anyway, so he sent a few of us up for backup.”

Jean snorted. “We could have used backup two hours ago.”

Annie smacked the back of his head. “Shut it, Kirschtein. You’d be dead without me.”

“Hey! I would have managed.”

“Anyway; we all knew Survey wants you, so when we saw you out running we saw an opportunity and took it.” Somewhere in the distance, there was a loud bang. Annie whirled around, immediately falling into a defensive stance and raising her pipe. They all froze; but there was nothing there. After a minute, Annie relaxed. “Keep going.”

“So, if Survey didn’t want me, you would have left me out there to die?”

“You said you would have managed a second ago,” Reiner muttered.

“If Survey didn’t want you it would have been a different situation. If that had been the case, we would have analyzed the situation from a different perspective.”

Jean’s frowned deepened. “That’s just a fancy way of saying you don’t give a shit, right?”

“Just being professional, Kirschtein.”

Jean stifled a snort. “As usual.”

“More than you! I can’t _believe_ you went up working for the Bodts.”

There was a small smile in Reiner’s voice as he looked around Bertl’s shoulder. “Annie’s just bitter because she still has the bruises from going up against the Bodt boy.”

Jean’s eyes widened slightly as he looked around at Annie. “You fought Marco?”

“Marco? You’re on first name terms with him?” Bertholdt muttered.

“Well – no, not really. Did he hurt you?”

Annie gave a curt shake of her head. “All I got were bruises. Bertl wasn’t so lucky.”

“What?” Jean turned to look at Bertholdt. The taller tensed his shoulders a little, before turning to Jean. Jean squinted, searching, and then –

In the dim light he could just about make out the burns around Bertholdt’s eyes. “Marco did that?”

Bertholdt turned around again, moving quickly along the street. “He’s the one with an eye patch, right? His eye, it…does something. I’m not even sure what it was, all I know was that his patch came off, there was a flash, and then…”

He shut up and raised a finger to his lips. In the distance stood an Enhanced guard, his back to them. Bertholdt darted across the street and ducked into an alleyway, waving his hand in a gesture to follow him.

“You should all shut your yappers,” Reiner said quietly. “Before we get caught. We can catch up later on.”

Jean nodded, glancing over his shoulder. With the guards having Enhanced hearing, if they kept speaking there was a pretty good chance they would be heard. He crept along behind Reiner through the derelict streets, until they got to one of the entrances. Entrances like these were dotted around the city; a flight of stairs descending into the ground, a door at the bottom, before really going underground.

Annie moved in front and rapped on the door. Jean knew there would be someone behind there, looking through a peephole. Once their collars were seen they would be let in. Of course, if they had been Enhanced, it wouldn’t have taken much for them to break through. But there would just be enough time for the Unenhanced to raise the alarm about them.

Just enough time for Survey to scatter.

The door swung open, a stooped woman with one eye ushered them through, closing and locking the door behind them. They continued down the steps. The floor once had been tiled, but it was so old and cracked that most of it was just rough stone. The walls were barren apart from a single fading sign. Jean could just about make out the words Trost Station.

They turned out into the main part of the station. The noise was like a loud, angry swarm of bees. The place was packed; children ran about and darted between them, people curled up on the rough floor, argued, cooked and traded, pushing past them and not paying any attention to four teenagers carrying an unconscious man.

“I haven’t been down here in ages,” Jean muttered.

“This way,” Bertholdt gestured. “Survey’s moved since the last time you were here.”

Jean followed the trio closely, his eyes not leaving Bertl’s back. Wherever Survey was, this place was like a maze. He doubted he would be able to find it alone. They pushed their way through the old platform and hopped down onto the old, ancient tracks. There were less people here; the old tracks served as roads, almost, down here.

They began their walk down the track. “When did Survey move?” Jean asked. One of Survey’s bases used to be in Trost, in the rooms that had once been offices and shops.

“Shortly after you left,” Reiner grunted. “The Enhanced smelled us out. Luckily we had been warned. Barely anyone had been caught.”

Reiner, Bertholdt and Annie were young for being fully fledged members of Survey. In the time that Eren, Mikasa and himself had only been getting started, they were already there for years. He didn’t know much about their backgrounds apart from that, but he had heard that their parents had been directly involved since before they were even born.

Jean frowned a little. “I don’t know if you’re trying to imply anything, Reiner, but-”

Reiner chuckled, turning around to clap Jean on the shoulder. “I wasn’t implying anything, Jean. We know you wouldn’t have ratted Survey out. You like to think that you’re a selfish bastard – and you are. But you care too much for your friends, too. You wouldn’t have ratted us out.”

Jean looked at Reiner, stunned, for a moment, before turning his head, grumbling to hide the warmth spreading across his cheeks. He nodded at the unconscious man who was still across Reiner’s shoulders. “Who’s he?”

Bertholdt grimaced, picking up the pace again. “Auruo Bossard. Survey guy. I don’t know what he was caught doing, but it mustn’t have been much if he just got a whipping.”

Jean glanced at his bare back, where he could see the sticky, bloody lashes across his skin. “When we get to the base, someone will look after him,” Annie said.

They kept walking on the tracks, the tunnel slowly emptying. It was darker here; the underground was lit by flickering electric lights, but they grew less and less frequent the further they walked.

“Are we nearly there yet?” Jean asked. He was tired, and sore, and didn’t have long before he would need to head up to Caelum again. He had lost track of how long they had been walking for. The words had barely left his mouth when he was lead around a corner. His eyes widened as he saw what was in front of him.

The tunnel had collapsed. Boulders and rubble blocked their way.

“Holy shit,” he said, stepping back. “When did this happen? Are there people still inside?”

Annie rolled her eyes. “It was always like this, idiot.”

“Huh?”

The rubble formed a complete barrier, but Annie and Bertholdt kept moving, right up to the corner. Together, they heaved at one of the boulders, and Jean looked on, surprised, as it moved rather easily.

“It never collapsed,” Reiner explained. “We filled it up with rubble to make it look collapsed. But there are ways in.”

Once the boulder had been moved, Annie ducked down and crawled through the gap it left.

“I hate this entrance,” Bertholdt muttered, crawling in after her.

“How the hell did you make this?” Jean wondered aloud. “How did you do it without the Enhanced?”

Reiner winked. “Who said we did it without the Enhanced?”

Jean looked sharply at him. “What?”

Reiner clapped his shoulder again. “There are surprising numbers of the Enhanced in Survey,” he said quietly. “You go first; it’ll take longer to get Auruo through.

Jean went down on all fours, squeezing through the gap left by the boulder. Inside, it was like another small tunnel; this one much more cramped, surrounding by rocks and concrete and rubble on all sides. “It’s not the most practical of entrances,” Jean muttered, as he began to crawl through, ducking down so he wouldn’t hit his head.

“It’s not the only one,” Reiner said somewhere behind him. There was a clunk, which Jean suspected was the boulder being pulled back into place. “It’s just the one closest to Trost.” After a minute Jean came to what was almost like a doorway; a metal shutter left open by Bertholdt. He kept crawling, and he could see the light coming through the other side. Behind him, he could hear Reiner shuffling with Auruo. He could see why Bertholdt hated this entrance; Jean was feeling cramped, he could only imagine what it was like for people Bertholdt and Reiner’s size.

Although, he had to admit, it was of good design. If they had to come through, the Enhanced could only come through one at a time. And if they tried tearing it down, it would still buy Survey enough time to get the hell out. Besides; it didn’t look like the entrance to an underground base. Especially if it was made by other Enhanced people, to the guards it would look just like a collapsed tunnel.

“It’s impressive,” Jean muttered.

“Mhmm,” Reiner agreed. “The best base we’ve had in years. Even if somehow they did find it, it would take them a long time to get through. Besides, the whole thing is rigged with explosives. If they try to get through, we blow them up.”

Very impressive.

The patch of light grew bigger and bigger, and before he knew it, Bertholdt was offering him a hand up and out of the tunnel. Jean hauled himself to his feet before brushing himself off, as Bertholdt went to help Reiner with Auruo.

It had been a long time since he had been in a Survey base, but this one was definitely the most impressive one.

It was a long stretch of the platform. Following the tracks, Jean could make out the same fake collapsed tunnel effect on the far side. The platform was full of people buzzing about; some lying down, seemingly injured, while others bandaged arms and cleaned wounds. On the other side, there was an area serving as some sort of kitchen, dishing out soup and stew to the different members of Survey. On the tracks were several manholes. A few women were using some sort of pulley system to lift boxes out of them. It must be how they got supplies into the place. Set into the walls were other doors and shutters, presumably the other exits and entrances.

“This place is amazing,” Jean said, looking around.

“It’s completely shut off from the main tunnels underground,” Reiner said proudly. “It’s nearly impossible to find, unless you already know where to look.”

He moved away, then. “We’ll take Auruo to someone who’ll fix him up. Annie’ll bring you to Levi.”

“Wait a second.” Jean gulped. “Levi, as in Corporal Levi, supposedly invincible Levi, the man who survived multiple suicide missions Levi?”

Bertholdt smiled. “He’s just as scary as the rumors say.”

Jean drummed his fingers against his legs nervously. “I didn’t know he was running Survey.”

“He’s not,” Annie said, brushing her fringe out of her eyes. “He’s second in command to the Commander.”

“And who’s the Commander?”

“That’s confidential. Only fully initiated members of Survey know.”

“I’m not going to tell anyone.”

“Rules are rules. C’mon, Jean.” Annie gripped his arm, leading him through the platform. She marched him up to a closed off area. It was where shops once had stood, but now it was a few different rooms, separated from the rest of the platform. She knocked lightly on one of the doors, and immediately it was opened by an older man with long, blond hair.

“Annie.”

“Erd.”

Erd looked at Jean. “This is Kirschtein?”

“Yeah,” Jean cut in. “This is Kirschtein.”

A small smile played on Erd’s lips. He stepped aside to let Jean in. “Right this way.”

Jean glanced at Annie. “Are you coming?” he asked. She shook her head.

“I’m going to check up on Mikasa, make sure she got here okay.”

“Oh. Alright.” Jean wasn’t exactly best friends with Annie, but it would have been reassuring to have her at his side as he went in to face the leaders of Survey. He ignored the jolt of nerves and entered the room, following Erd.

Inside was pretty barren. A round table lay in the center of the room, maps and notes spread across it. Two other men were sitting at the table, poring over the maps. They looked up when he came in.

One was taller, with dark hair and dark skin. The other was short, with black hair and pasty skin and narrow eyes. He scowled at Jean, and he matched the descriptions in all of the rumors and stories he had heard about him. It must be Levi.

Levi stood up as he entered, just as Erd took a seat beside him. “Kirschtein?”

“Yeah. Uh, sir.”

Erd spoke up again. “Take a seat, Jean. I’m Erd, and this,” he waved to the other man, “is Gunther.”

Levi sneered. “I doubt I have to introduce myself.”

Jean swallowed tightly and took a seat. Levi looked at him for a long time, barely seeming to blink. It was as if he was a book, and the Corporal was reading him easily. It was like he was picking Jean apart with those eyes.

After a moment had passed, he spoke. “I know your story, kid,” Levi said, crossing his arms. He was still a lot smaller than Jean had expected him to be. “You began working for Survey with Jaeger and Ackerman. Of course, it could hardly be called real work; you did errands for us, a few simple missions. And then you dropped out.” He sank back into his seat. “But tonight you helped recover a Survey member. Something tells me you haven’t really turned your back on us.”

“I helped Eren because he’s my friend, not because he’s in Survey,” Jean interrupted.

Levi ignored him. “And now you’re working up in Caelum, serving the Enhanced like the dog they pretend you are.” He let silence hang for a moment. “But I’ve a proposition to make for you.”

Jean didn’t like the way this conversation was going.

“Times are getting rough, Kirschtein. There are more and more incidents where we’ve been at their mercy. We can’t let this go on. At the moment, Survey excels in guerilla warfare. But soon? In the not so distant future, I suspect this will turn into an all-out war.”

Jean’s eyes widened.

“And in a war with the Enhanced, we’ll need every asset we can get our hands on.”

Jean briefly wondered if everyone in this base apart from himself was fucking _mad_. Hadn’t they seen, didn’t they know the difference in power between them? Sure, there were more Unenhanced than Enhanced, but they were so overpowered that it didn’t make a difference. Survey wouldn’t stand a fool’s chance against the likes of the Military Police.

“In the meantime,” Levi continued before Jean could protest. “We need information. And as one of our old recruits suddenly has a position in the household of the Head of Security – well, it’s an opportunity we can’t pass up.”

The realization sank in. “You want me to spy for you,” he said slowly.

Levi nodded. “With Ilse Langnar and Jeremiah Bodt in the same household, information you could provide us with could be priceless.”

Jean hesitated. “I can’t do it,” he said after a long moment.

He looked down, but he could feel Levi’s glare burn into his skull. “I mean, the reason I’m there is so I can make enough to care for my sister. If I get caught, I’m dead. And I don’t want to die, and she won’t manage without me.”

“Yes, but this is far bigger than just two people,” Gunther insisted, speaking for the first time.

Jean rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m sorry. I can’t do it.”

Gunther opened his mouth to speak again, but Levi held a hand up to silence him.

“I mean,” Jean continued. “I left Survey for a reason. I don’t want to join again. Besides, I don’t know what type of information I’d get anyway. I’m basically glued to the hip of Marco Bodt, not Jeremiah Bodt or Ilse Langnar. And if I heard anything drastic anyway, I’d probably warn Eren, so…” Jean faltered for a moment, finally looking up and meeting Levi’s eye. “I can’t leave my sister, either. And if I get caught…”

Gunther raised an eyebrow. “You’re prioritizing yourself and your sister over Survey.”

“She’s the only family I have left,” Jean snapped back.

“Enough,” Levi said. He looked at Jean for another long moment, and Jean shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. Eventually, he sighed. “Fine.”

“What?”

“Your answer is no. I don’t think we can make you change your mind. But if you ever do change it, you’ll know where to find us.”

“Oh.” Jean stood up, sending a final glance towards Levi. “I’m sorry.”

Levi sighed in response, dismissing him with a wave of his hand.

♙♙♙

Mikasa was waiting for him outside.

“You made it!” he said, sighing in relief. Mikasa was stronger than him, and no doubt faster than him. She would have managed with Eren far better than Jean, but a part of him had still been worried.

“Of course,” she said, her hands fiddling with the end of her scarf. “I wanted to say thank you.”

Jean gave a halfhearted shrug. “Did you know Levi wanted to speak with me? Is that why you asked me to help you?”

Mikasa frowned, shaking her head. “Well, I knew he wanted you, but I didn’t think they would get involved. You’ve your mind made up about Survey anyway, right?”

“Right.” Jean paused. “How’s Eren?”

Mikasa hesitated. “Sore. He’s being treated with Auruo. It’s…bad, but nothing he won’t recover from.”

Jean nodded, stifling a yawn. Suddenly, it felt as if exhaustion had hit him in the face. “What time is it?” Hopefully there would be enough time to get home and catch a few hours of sleep before heading up to Caelum. The thought of having to work again in a few hours wasn’t appealing.

“Just after 2am.”

Jean groaned. “I’ve to be up in Caelum in less than four hours. Kill me.”

Mikasa gave him a small smile. “You can sleep here tonight,” she said. “I’ll wake you up at 5am. It should be enough time to see Odette again before going up.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Jean ended up spending the night on a sleeping mat in a room full with other Survey members. He sank down heavily, nearly asleep before his eyes had closed, oblivious to the hard floor.

It was funny, really. How he had done his best to cut threads with Survey, but had still ended up sleeping in a Survey base. And even though Jean had his reasons for leaving, he couldn’t help but feel like he had betrayed them.

♙♙♙

“You look tired,” Marco said, twirling a pen in his fingers.

Jean stifled a yawn, leaning back against the wall. “Do I?”

Marco smirked, tossing the pen into the air and catching it. “What were you doing yesterday then?”

Jean hesitated. _Oh, nothing much. Just busting a friend who just so happens to be a member of the rebel group about to declare war against you and your kind out of gallows. Just ran from who knows how many Enhanced guards, just declined a proposal to spy on you for aforementioned rebel group, just spent the night at a rebel base. The usual._

“Nothing,” he said, struggling to come up with a legal reason to appear so tired after a day off. “Just…it’s been a long week. What about you?” he asked, changing the subject. “How did you manage without me around?”

Marco laughed, seeming to buy Jean’s lame excuse. “Didn’t do a lot,” he admitted. “Training and studying, mostly. It was really boring.” He paused before speaking again. “Ilse’s coming home today, though! That’s something, at least.”

Jean struggled to hide the frown.

Ilse Langnar was somewhat of a legend down in Terra. She worked in the security department; her official title was the Head of Unenhanced relations. What that meant, was that she and her men were the ones who tried to crush Survey. They were the ones who retaliated with harsh measures after riots and disobedience; she was the one who decided which poor fucker hung in the gallows every night. The Enhanced were bad, but Ilse was a terror.

Not that Marco knew that. Jean doubted he had ever seen her bad side. He never would have seen her the way she acted down in Terra. In fact, whenever Jean saw her up here she was a completely different person; she seemed laid back, relaxed and fun to be around. Not the raging witch she was back home.

Marco flopped down across his desk. “I can’t do this anymore,” he said, his voice muffled. “My brain’s going to melt.”

“Haven’t you been at it long enough?” Jean asked, rubbing his eye. Frankly, it was boring, having to stand there and watch Marco pore over books for hours on end.

“I don’t know, Jean,” he muttered, sitting up again. He flipped through the pages absent mindedly. “I mean, there’s not much time before the exams-”

“I’ve gone over your notes with you,” Jean interrupted. “You know everything on them. You know it all.”

Marco hesitated before closing the book. “You’re right,” he said, although he still sounded a little unsure. “Let’s go for a walk, or something. I need to stretch my legs.”

The way Marco spoke to him, it was almost like speaking to an equal. When he turned, the light poring through glinted off his lower arm, flashing from the metal part left uncovered by the shirt he was wearing. Jean remembered who he was pretty quickly.

They ended up going to the gymnasium, the same place where Marco trained on the weekends. Now though, all the fancy training equipment had been put away, leaving only a wide space of the hall. Marco was quick to pull out a basketball hoop and a ball.

Jean couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. “Basketball? Really?”

Marco gave him a wide grin, showcasing his perfect teeth. “Of course!” he said, walking to the other end of the hall.

Jean couldn’t help but grin a little. Basketball was one of the games the crowds of Unenhanced kids played down in Terra. He could remember playing with his friends when he was younger, using makeshift hoops made out of rubbish. It felt odd that Marco probably played the same game. “You any good?”

Marco’s grin grew, and he balanced the ball on the fingers of his metal arm. His eye narrowed slightly, focusing in on the hoop across the gym. Even from along the edge of the room, Jean could see his iris shifting and twisting, no doubt zooming in on his target. He shot with one hand, and despite being on the other side of the hall, the ball soared in a perfect arc, landing right in the center of the hoop.

“Shit.” Jean looked back at him. “Okay, that was because of your arm and your eyesight. I bet if it wasn’t for those, you would be crap.”

Marco walked over, picking up the ball. “Go on then,” he said. “Show me how it’s done.” He flung the ball at Jean, again with a metal hand. Like an idiot, Jean didn’t catch it, and it hit his stomach so hard it winded him. He gasped, quickly grabbing the ball. “Jesus,” he said, taking a step back. “Some throw you’ve got.”

Marco’s left eye widened. “Damn, sorry – I forgot! I guess I just…don’t know my own strength.”

“S’alright,” Jean replied, surprised at the apology.

He looked at the basketball in his hands. It was of much better quality than any of the ones he had used as a kid. He glanced up at the hoop. He was a lot closer to it than Marco had been. Jean bit his lip, aiming carefully before shooting. The ball hit the edge of the hoop, bouncing off it and back to the ground.

Marco laughed at Jean’s scowl. “Not bad,” he said, his tone teasing. “For an Unenhanced guy, anyway.”

Jean bristled at that. Marco seemed to pick up on it, and he put his metal arm behind his back, waving his flesh and blood one in the air. “C’mon. How about a quick game? To even the odds, I’ll keep my good arm behind my back.”

Jean stared at him. Playing with him? It wasn’t really appropriate. It was his job to stand on the sidelines and watch, to get Marco anything he needed, to do whatever he was asked. Not to play against him. Something told him that if anyone saw them, it would be frowned upon at the very least.

His train of thought was interrupted by Marco, who was wearing a wicked smile that looked out of place on his face. “Unless, y’know, you’re too nervous playing against someone Enhanced.”

Jean’s eye twitched. “Hell no,” he said, walking out. A grin began to spread. “Bring it. I’ll show you some, uh, traditional techniques all the way from Terra.”

Marco threw him the ball with a triumphant grin. “C’mon, then.”

♙♙♙

Usually, Marco ended up eating alone in his room, sometimes with his cousin, Ymir. Eating dinner in the Bodt household wasn’t exactly a regular occurrence. Usually the only time they ate together was when Ilse came back from Terra; she tended to spend up to a few weeks at a time down below.

Jean hated these dinners. They were far too formal for any family, and it meant he had to stand at attention a few feet behind Marco’s chair for the whole night. He focused on a spot on the opposite wall, trying to distract himself by thinking about anything. He thought about the basketball game with Marco, where he had been hammered, he thought about the list of tasks he would have to do tomorrow morning while Marco was at class, he thought about Auruo and Eren and wondered if they were any better this morning.

Jean remembered what Levi had asked him to do. Spy on the Bodts? He doubted he would find out anything worth risking his life for. Marco wouldn’t have anything valuable for Survey anyway, and the only times he would get chances to be near Jeremiah Bodt or Ilse were…

…times like this.

Jean found himself tuning in to the conversation.

Marco’s mother was mostly silent, occasionally looking up to comment on something. Marco and Ymir were mostly quiet too; Ymir looking just as bored as Jean felt. Jean couldn’t see Marco’s face, but his shoulders looked tense. Conversation was dominated by Ilse and Jeremiah, who were discussing the events of last night.

“What I don’t understand,” Jeremiah said, annoyance clear in his voice, “was how your men managed to let two prisoners escape from the gallows. They said there were only two rescuers, right? How on earth were they all outsmarted by two Unenhanced?”

Ilse looked tired. There were bags under her eyes that hadn’t been there the last time Jean had seen her, and she looked stressed and worn. “I don’t _know_ ,” she said, dropping her fork and rubbing her temples. “The guards didn’t expect that to happen. They saw fireworks going off, they knew their comrades were pursuing some Unenhanced bastard – what were they supposed to do?”

“They even managed to kill one of your guards.”

Ymir looked up in interest. “Wait, so one of them killed one of us? What actually happened last night?”

Marco’s father sighed. “Some Unenhanced kid led the guards on a wild goose chase. I don’t know how he managed to get away, let alone kill a guard, but he did. In any case, he caused enough of a distraction for someone else to bust two of their friends from the gallows.”

“Were they Survey?” Marco asked.

“Surprisingly not, from what we can tell. Both of the Unenhanced in the gallows are under suspicion for associating with Survey, but they went in for different reasons. Besides, when Survey does something, they make sure everyone knows it was them. This was different.”

Jeremiah gave Ilse a look. “Do you know who they were?”

“The older man stole from a guard. The younger is a known troublemaker. He was the one who started up the riot the day Marco was down in Terra.”

Jean saw Marco freeze.

“And the two who caused it all?”

“They didn’t see much. They were fast, and hid their faces. From what they could tell, one was male, the other female. They were of average height and build, for the Unenhanced. She had short hair and a scarf, he had an undercut. That’s all that they were able to make out.”

Marco’s fork slid out of his hand and clattered to the floor.

Ymir raised an eyebrow. “S-sorry,” Marco muttered. Jean stepped forward to pick it up. As he handed it to him, their eyes met for a moment. Marco’s expression was unreadable. Jean looked away.

Marco’s father turned back to Ilse. “Listen, Ilse. I want all four of them found quickly. And I want them flayed; I want you to prove to the _scum_ down below what happens when you defy us. Make an example of them, and then-”

“Why?” Marco blurted.

The room went silent. Jean was pretty sure he could hear his own heart beating.

“What did you say, son?” his father’s voice was low.

Marco crossed his arms. “I mean, they probably didn’t do that much. And if my friend was being hung by his wrists for who knows how long after a whipping, I’d probably try and bust him out too.”

Holy shit. _Holy shit._

Jean could barely believe he was hearing this – was Marco sticking up for the Unenhanced, sticking up for him and Mikasa and Eren in front of his father and aunt? “Whoever they were, they were just looking out for someone they loved. Why is that so bad? I would have done the same,” he continued, his voice slowly losing confidence and volume.

“You, boy, are not Unenhanced. You can’t possibly compare yourself to them. I thought you would have realized the differences after your trip down, but you obviously haven’t.” His father’s voice was like a slap, Jean nearly flinched listening to him. Marco didn’t budge.

“Marco, one of our own was killed,” Ilse said slowly. “It’s more than just someone standing up for their friend. It’s _murder_.”

It was a struggle to keep his expression neutral – how many Unenhanced had the guards murdered? How many had they murdered under Ilse’s command? And now she had the gall to preach about murder? Jean bit the inside of his cheek.

Marco opened his mouth to say something, but he hesitated. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess,” he said quietly.

“Let’s stop this talk,” Marco’s mother said with a sigh. “It’s work talk, not suitable for the table.”

Marco’s father sighed. “I suppose you’re right. We’ll talk about this later,” he muttered to Ilse. Jean couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed – and quite frankly, a little terrified. At least he didn’t seem to be a suspect, otherwise he wouldn’t be here. But the way Marco had reacted…

Back before the riot, Eren had intervened, calling Jean’s name before starting the ruckus. Would Marco remember him? If he did, it wouldn’t be too hard to make the connection that they were friends. And it wouldn’t take a genius to put two and two together.

There was a chance that Marco might have worked out what Jean had done last night.

The question was would he keep quiet about it?

“So, Marco,” Ilse began, looking to change the subject. “How’s the studying going?”

“Good,” Marco replied, his voice sounding distant.

“What were you doing earlier?” his father asked. “You were supposed to be studying, but I saw you go down to the gym.” There was almost an accusatory tone in his voice.

“Oh, I was, uh, playing basketball.”

He raised an eyebrow. “By yourself?”

“No, uh…”

Something told Jean that Jeremiah Bodt wouldn’t take kindly to his son skiving from studying to kill time with his Unenhanced servant.

“Nah, he was with me,” Ymir lied casually.

“And why weren’t you studying too?” Ilse questioned.

Ymir rolled her eyes. “I’m finished,” she announced, standing up. “And I’m excusing myself.”

Ilse opened her mouth to say something to her daughter, but Ymir was already gone, followed by her Unenhanced servant.

“Me too,” Marco said, standing up and following Ymir out of the dining room. Jean followed him.

One thing was clear, anyway. Jean was skating on extremely thin ice. There was a chance Marco might have worked out what he had done, and if he spoke up, well. A whipping was the very best Jean could hope to receive. Execution for treason seemed much more likely. But not ten minutes ago, Marco had spoken out, defending the Unenhanced.

He was becoming more and more confusing every day; where did he stand? What did he really think of the Unenhanced? He was treating Jean more like a companion than a servant which each day, he never mistreated them like others might, and then there were incidents like just now. But other days, with his friends, the Unenhanced seemed to be the last thing on his mind; people he just didn’t care about.

It was as confusing as hell. Should Jean trust him or not?

No. Even if Marco thought he was on Jean’s side; he was still Enhanced.

Ymir was waiting for him in the corridor outside. Without a word the two of them fell into step together, walking down in silence. Jean followed. When they were well out of earshot of those in the dining room, Ymir turned, crossing her arms. “What the hell was that?”

“What the hell was what?”

Ymir waved her hand. As if against his will, Marco’s metal hand rose, flicking him in the face. “Ow! Ymir!”

“Fine! I just…don’t know, to be honest. They were talking about all the horrible stuff they would do to those two once they caught them, and I’m sorry if I don’t think looking out for your friends is worth the fucking _death sentence_.”

Jean flinched. It was strange to hear Marco cursing.

Ymir studied him for what felt like a long time, but was probably only a moment. “So you don’t agree with the way they’re treated?”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Marco said, almost nervously, rubbing his neck and glancing at Jean. “I think things can be…a little extreme, at times.”

Jean snorted.

Ymir whipped around to look at him, a challenge in her eyes. Jean held eye contact with her for a moment before dropping his gaze. She smirked triumphantly before turning back around to Marco.

“Whatever your opinion is,” she said quietly. “Now isn’t the time to voice it. You’re not going to do anything for your cause when you’re a teenage nobody. Nobody will want anything to do with you and you won’t get anywhere. Wait until you’re a few years older, and you’re someone important, and then you can start trying to change…whatever it is that you’re trying to change.”

Her words came as a shock. To both of them, it seemed.

“What?” Marco said slowly. “Wait a second.” He narrowed his eyes. “What do you think about all of this?”

Ymir was silent for a moment, and she looked away. “I don’t really have much of an opinion,” she said slowly. “But Historia…she thinks things are too extreme the way they are now.”

Marco nodded. “Do you agree with her?”

Ymir gave a shrug, followed by the barest of nods. “I guess. In a few years’ time, Historia’s gonna need all the help she can get. And if she thinks things are too extreme and wants to change the way things are, I’ll help her.”

None of this meant anything to Jean – he had no clue who this Historia was, but if she wanted to try and change things, it could only be good, right?

Ymir’s hand darted out to grip Marco’s shoulder tightly. “Not a word to anyone, alright?” she hissed. “Especially not your father.”

Marco snorted. “As if I’d tell him about this.”

Ymir gave a curt nod, before walking away. Marco stood and watched her go, before heading off to his own room. Jean trailed behind a few feet behind.

When they got into his room, Jean tried not to look at him. “There’s some old dishes here, sir,” he mumbled. “I’ll take them down now.”

“The _sir_ gives you away,” Marco replied, his arms crossed. “You only call me _sir_ when you’re nervous.”

Jean froze, slowly turning to look at Marco. His face was blank, which was a bad enough sign; Marco usually wore his heart on his sleeve, and was as easy to read as a book. His stance was tense, his arms were crossed, and there was a small pull of a frown on his lips.

Jean gulped, and said nothing. He grabbed the dirty plate and mug, and turned to leave, but Marco’s hand was on his arm, the cool metal firm but gentle.

“What were you doing last night that left you so tired this morning?” he asked lightly, but there was an edge in his voice.

He knew, there wasn’t a doubt about it. Jean licked his dry lips. “Back in the dining room you defended the person who busted their friend out of the gallows. Why not now?”

He didn’t confirm it, but when he met Marco’s eyes, he _knew_ that Marco knew. “Busting your friend out is…understandable,” he said, after a moment. “I would have tried to do the same, I think.”

“What would you know?” The words were out before Jean could stop them. He flinched, but Marco ignored him.

“I probably would have done the same. But there’s a dead guard, Jean. Someone _died_ because of this. That’s…that’s something I can’t just take lightly.”

Jean’s hands gripped the plates tightly. “I didn’t kill him,” he said, meeting Marco’s gaze. “I didn’t even touch him. I don’t kill; I’m not like the _Enhanced_.”

He wanted to scream at Marco’s neutral face. Just a moment ago he was saying he thought things were extreme with the Unenhanced. How many Unenhanced had the guards killed for no reason? How could this one death even compare?

Besides, it wasn’t as if Marco could talk; he was the one who had killed an Unenhanced servant for no reason.

“And even if it was could you really blame me?” he continued, keeping his voice low. “He was the guard that led you and those two boys down in Terra, the one who used his dial on my sister and let your friends do the same. In case you don’t remember, they would have _killed_ her, and probably me too, and _you_ would have _stood_ there and _watched_!”

Marco flinched.

Jean was breathing heavily. He could feel the anger seeping into his bloodstream, but he forced himself to ignore it. Calm down. _Calm down_ before Marco changes his mind about the Unenhanced.

“Are you with Survey?” Marco asked. He looked nervous, almost afraid of Jean’s answer.

Jean shook his head. “No.”

“Honestly?”

“Honestly.”

A long moment hung in the air, before Marco turned his back. “You can go down now,” he said.

Jean was only too happy to leave.

♙♙♙

_Fool. You stupid, stupid fool._

Jean’s heart was hammering wildly in his chest on his way down to the kitchens.

Marco had told Ymir what he thought of the Enhanced, he had told his parents he thought that standing up for your friends was reasonable. But would that stretch as far as him keeping quiet about Jean?

He knew Jean had broken the law – Jean could easily be executed for treason for what he had done. He knew he was involved in the death of the guard, and he probably suspected he had some connections with Survey – and he wouldn’t be wrong on any of those claims.

And Jean had all but admitted to it, and he had let his goddamn sharp tongue get the better of him. Right now, Marco was probably speaking to his father, telling them that the damn culprit was in their very household.

The chances of him dying before the night was out were huge. It couldn’t end like this though; not when he had Odette to look for. He had survived the events of last night; he couldn’t just be wiped out now.

For a wild moment, he considered making a run for it. He doubted he would make it, though. And even if he did, Odette wouldn’t. She needed her medication, which was relying on this job. If he left now he would have to run, and would have to stay underground.

He was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

He was on the flight of stairs heading down into the kitchens, but he had to stop. He slumped down on a step, letting his head fall into his hands. He felt as if there was a band around his chest, like his breathing restricted, as if there wasn’t enough oxygen in the air. He carded his hands through his hair, trying to calm down.

_Panicking isn’t going to get you anywhere, Kirschtein. Calm. Down._

The door from the kitchens swung open. “Jean?”

Jean launched himself onto his feet. Petra was looking up at him, a concerned expression on her face. Jean hastily picked up the dishes he brought down from Marco’s room. He tried to explain why he was down, but his tongue was tied and he couldn’t get it out.

In the end, he tried to pass her and head into the kitchen, but she stopped him, grasping his shoulder. “René,” she called, and one of the other kitchen maids popped out. Jean kept his gaze on the ground while Petra tugged the dishes out of his hand, giving them to René. “I’ll be back shortly,” she said, taking Jean’s wrist and pulling him along with her.

She all but dragged him into the common area in the servants’ quarters. During serving hours, it was empty, so it was just the two of them. She sat him down in one of the chairs before sitting across from him. “What happened?” she asked. “You can tell me. No bullshit.”

Jean slowly looked up. Her eyes were focused on him, concerned and serious, but kind, too. He had calmed down a little bit; the worry and fear were still gnawing at his gut like hungry rats, chewing him up from the inside. But his breathing was back under control, and the initial panic was slowly fading. “I fucked up,” he said quietly. “Really, really badly.”

Petra frowned, taking his hand. She looked down. “That’s new,” she said, “where did you get that?” Jean looked down. On his wrist there was series of tiny burns, ones he had gotten from the stunts with the fireworks the previous night.

“Oh, y’know,” he said, attempting some of his usual snark. “Just from throwing fireworks at Enhanced guards.”

It was almost funny, watching the different emotions slide over Petra’s face. First there was concern and then confusion as she tried to understand what Jean had said. Next came the look of understanding as the realization dawned on her, and finally the look of mild horror.

“No,” she breathed. “That was you?”

Jean sighed in response, slumping back in the chair.

Petra stood up and brushed off her apron, before leaving. She came back a minute later, carrying a glass of salted water, a tiny jar and a small bandage. “It hasn’t been cleaned properly, she muttered, dabbing some of the water onto his skin. “It’s tiny, and probably doesn’t hurt very much at all, but it could get infected. Lord knows there’s enough sickness down in Terra.”

Jean said nothing as she cleaned it out, and then wrapped it up in the tiny strip of cloth serving as a bandage. He let his head fall back, and he took deep breaths looking up at the white ceiling.

It wasn’t until she was finished that she prompted him again. “So, you were involved in that mess last night,” she said quietly. “And now – what? Did someone find out?”

Jean nodded. “Marco found out. And like, I don’t know. He said that he thought protecting your friends was important, and understood what I did, but then he started going on about how bad it was because an Enhanced guard died, and questioning me about Survey, and like – I’m not even in Survey, and I told him that, but I don’t know if he believed me, and –”

Petra held a hand up. “You’re rambling,” she said, with a soft smile.

Jean felt sick. The nerves were back, rattling around inside his head. “What if he reports me?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. “I could be killed for this.”

Petra shook her head. “We can’t think like that.”

“But it might happen!”

“Yes, it might! But until it does, we have to go on as if nothing is wrong. Marco seems to like you, and if you told him you aren’t in Survey, and if he does truly believe in standing up for your friends, then he might keep it to himself.”

Jean looked up at her. “That’s a bit of a long shot.”

Petra nodded. “It’s the only shot we have,” she said. She was silent for a moment, before standing up. “If anyone asks, you’re sick, and you’re unable to work. Go get some sleep; you look like you could use it. I’ll take care of Marco.”

Jean looked at her, surprised that she was going to these lengths just for him. “Petra,” he muttered gratefully. “Thank you. I mean, really, thank you. I owe you one.”

Petra gave him a smile. “We’re Unenhanced in Caelum, Jean,” she said. “We need to look out for each other.”

♘♘♘

In the Underground in Terra, four men were meeting.

Auruo came in leaning on Reiner, still slightly wobbly on his feet. “Where’s Petra?” he asked, as Reiner helped him down into a chair.

Levi rolled his eyes. “She doesn’t get time off until Sunday, you know that. You can leave us, Braun.”

It was obvious from Reiner’s face that he wanted to stay, but he gave a stiff nod and left the room. Levi looked around slowly at the faces around his table. Auruo Bossard, Erd Gin, Gunther Schultz. Three quarters of his own special team, the missing quarter being Petra. There was a heavy silence sifting between them.

Auruo broke it. “I’m sorry sir, I wasn’t quick enough and they caught me. I swear though, they thought I was just stealing for myself, they didn’t know I was with Surv-”

“Enough,” said Levi flatly. “That’s not why we’re here.”

Erd frowned to his right. Out of his team, Petra knew him the best, but Erd knew him the longest, and had worked with him the longest. “You’re not happy about Kirschtein?” he guessed.

Levi gave a curt nod. Gunther shot a confused look at Erd. “But sir,” he said, “you were the one who dismissed him. We might have been able to convince him if we’d had longer.”

Levi shook his head. “He had his mind made up. And from what Jaeger says, he’s just as stubborn as he is. I doubt we could have made him change it, not this way, anyway.”

“I don’t understand,” Auruo said. “Why is he such a big deal?”

“In case you forgot, Kirschtein is the personal servant to Marco Bodt-”

“I know that, but…Petra’s already positioned in their house. Why is it so important to have Kirschtein reporting back to us, too?”

Erd gave Auruo a look. “I mean,” Auruo scrambled to add. “I know we could use as many spies as we can get, but I don’t understand why Kirschtein is so…crucial.”

Levi huffed a sigh. “It took enough work to get Petra in,” he said. “But she rarely had an ideal position. First, she was Bodt’s wife’s servant, now; she’s the head of the staff. But that mostly entails dealing with the other servants, or the lady of the house. On occasion she deals with Jeremiah Bodt, but not enough to glean any information. There’s not a lot she can provide us with, where she is now. Kirschtein, on the other hand…”

Levi drummed his fingertips against the smooth surface of the table. “Marco Bodt is what, eighteen? He’ll be finishing school soon, and most likely will be going to work for his father. He’s at an age where more and more power is going to be trickling into his hands, and if we have one of our own in there, it could prove to be very helpful to us. If we get someone in there, the information they could provide…and as well as information…”

The three looked at him quizzically. Levi sighed. “Well, if it comes to it, the head of security might be more reluctant to crush Survey if Survey has his son as a hostage.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh. And Kirschtein is the perfect opportunity; he’s already in, he already was in Survey but the Enhanced don’t know that, and he has as much reason to hate them as we do. But he’s too bloody stubborn and doesn’t want to risk his sister getting involved.”

They were silent for a moment. “So…if we can’t force him to work with us, we need to persuade him to work with us?”

“Exactly.”

Auruo’s frown deepened. “I’m sure that’s easier said than done.”

“I’ll speak with the Commander tonight,” Levi said. “He’ll know what to do.”

♛ ♛ ♛ 

Marco had tried to go back to studying, but he didn’t get anywhere. There were too many thoughts buzzing around his head.

 _“I don’t kill; I’m not like the_ Enhanced _.”_

Marco was positive that had been a reference to him. Before, he hadn’t been sure if Jean knew about what had happened to his predecessor. Now, it was clear that he must know.

It wasn’t fair, he thought angrily. Why should he have to deal with these guilty feelings and thoughts when there were people far worse than him that didn’t have a sympathetic bone in their body? Yes, sure – it was slowly becoming clear to Marco, that maybe the Unenhanced didn’t deserve all of the abuse they got. The laws were a little bit too extreme in some places – even if they weren’t the same, they were still people, right?

But he hadn’t made the system, and there was nothing he could do about laws that had been in place for years. So why was Jean acting as if it was all his fault?

Why did he feel so guilty?

 _Because even if it’s not your fault things are the way they are, you’re still not innocent,_ the voice in his head told him.

_“In case you don’t remember, they would have killed her, and probably me too, and you would have stood there and watched!”_

Jean had mentioned his sister a few times since he started working for Marco. Marco didn’t even know her name, but she was the only family he had mentioned. Marco wondered if Jean even had any other family alive.

Marco tried to imagine it. If Connie or Sasha had been taken like that, would he try to free him?

He hoped that he would.

All of his life he had been taught that the Unenhanced were less than him, that they were expendable. But surely, just because they weren’t as important didn’t mean that they should be treated that badly? Just because their lives weren’t as valuable didn’t mean that they should be killed for no real reason.

If his father knew that he was thinking like that, he would surely be skinned alive.

Earlier on, he had said that standing up for your friends was admirable, that he thought the person behind it all shouldn’t be punished. And he believed that, but there was someone dead because of it. Could he believe Jean when he said he hadn’t touched him? And even if he couldn’t…Marco had blood on his hands too.

Jean wasn’t like the other servants he had. Honestly? He was a terrible servant. He didn’t keep his head down like he was supposed to, he forgot honorifics half of the time, he didn’t act like the others did. He was still wary of the gap between them, but it was still different. Unlike the others, half of the time Marco nearly forgot he was Unenhanced. He felt more like a companion, almost a friend, than an Unenhanced servant.

If he told anybody, Jean would almost definitely be killed.

Marco didn’t want more blood on his hands.

Marco didn’t want Jean’s blood on anyone’s hands.

This was giving him a headache.

There was a soft knock on the door, and Marco heard the click of it opening.

“Jean,” he said. “I need to talk to you.”

“Excuse me, sir.” A female voice. Marco frowned, turning around. “Petra?”

Petra bowed her head. She was always nice to Marco, but unlike with Jean, he could never mistake the difference between them. “Jean’s ill, so I’ll be serving you for the rest of the evening, if that’s okay.”

It felt as if he had been forced to swallow stones; an uneasy, heavy feeling forced its way down into his stomach. He was sure that Jean was ill, all right. “Oh. T-that’s okay.”

He looked down, but he could still feel Petra’s eyes on him. He wondered how much he knew. Marco pretended to go back to his book, turning the page. His eye scanned across the words, but none of them sunk in. “Is there anything I can do for you, sir?” asked Petra slowly. Her voice was cool and polite, her face was blank.

“No, thank you. In fact-” Marco shut his book. “I think I’m going to go to bed. I’ve an awful headache.”

“Would you like me to get anything for you, si-”

“No.” Marco flinched at the tone of his voice. “I mean, no thanks. Just – leave me alone, please.”

Petra hesitated before nodding. “As you wish.”

♛ ♛ ♛ 

“Now, turn it up to ten.”

He had heard those words before. Marco turned his head to see his father standing next to him. Confused, Marco looked in front of him. His old servant stood there. The one he had murdered. His breathing stuttered and he tried to take a step back, but his father’s hand was clutching his arm tightly.

It wasn’t the same as the last time, though. The last time, it had been in the privacy of his father’s office. Three people had gone into that room, and two people, a corpse, and rumors had left it.

Now, they were in a busy street, down in…Terra. Marco recognized this place too. It was a narrow street packed full of people; Enhanced guards looking down from the rooftops, a crowd of the Unenhanced gathering around. His stomach lurched; he knew this place too. A glance to his left confirmed it; Thomas, Nack, and the guard from that day stood beside him. “Go on,” they encouraged. “It’s your turn, Marco.”

The servant wasn’t the same either. The first time, she had looked at him with a plea in her eyes, silently begging for mercy as she trembled in fear. Now, she stood still. Her hair wasn’t up and back from her face, but was hanging limp around her shoulders. Her skin was a stark white, stretched tight around her bones. Her eyes lay in her sockets, an accusatory, hateful glare resting in her dead eyes.

She was already dead, he realized.

“I – I can’t,” Marco stammered, gesturing towards her with his flesh hand. “She’s already-”

“Ten.” His father rested a hand on his shoulder. “Prove to me that you have what it takes, Marco. If you want to even dream about taking over from me or serving the King, you need to be able to exterminate this vermin.”

Marco’s hands were shaking, his hands were sweaty. There was a ball of dread dancing around in his stomach – he couldn’t breathe.

“Come on then,” she said, but even as she spoke she began to change. Her hair grew longer and changed into a dirty blonde color, her eyes turned hazel. She became shorter and thinner, her nose grew longer and her mouth pulled down into a sneer.

Marco didn’t know her name, but he knew who it was. The girl from that day, Jean’s sister.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he managed, feeling his father’s hand tighten on his shoulder.

“You don’t want to hurt us, but you do.” Another voice and Marco looked behind him. He yelled in fright, trying to move away, but he couldn’t free himself from his father’s grip.

It was the girl who had tried to attack him; tiny but fierce, with fiery blue eyes. Ugly burns covered the side of her face, dead skin peeling and blood congealing as she walked forwards. Those were new, but Marco had seen those types of burns before. A jolt of pain ran through his brain, coming from his covered eye.

He had never checked to see if she was okay after that blast, after all. Her two friends walked behind her. “You don’t mean to, but all you do is destroy. You’ve got blood on your hands, Marco Bodt.” She took another step forward, and Marco tried to move away, but now Thomas and Nack were gripping his other arm tightly.

“A whole lot of blood,” she continued. Her skin decayed before his eyes, the flesh peeling apart to show the white of her cheekbone, her eye threatening to fall out of its socket. “Your servant’s blood, Jean’s sister’s blood, mine, theirs, and soon, Jean’s too.”

Marco shut his eyes tightly. “No. No I don’t. I didn’t mean any of it, I never wanted to—”

“You never meant to hurt anyone, but you did.” That was a new voice; that was Jean’s voice. “And even if you didn’t, you stood by and let others hurt us, and that’s just as bad.”

Marco opened his eyes again, and he was surrounded now. By his family, by the Enhanced, by the staff, by his friends. They all stood around him, glaring back at him with dead eyes.

“You’re guilty,” his father whispered, and Marco couldn’t breathe, he felt like his head was going to implode.

He looked down, and there was blood on his hands, and—

The scene changed, and he was in his father’s office again. “You need to prove to me that you have enough spine to do the dirty work needed for this job,” his father was saying. “You need to be able to look them in the eye when you give them the pain they deserve. Give him a three, to start.”

His father pointed somewhere behind him. With the feeling of dreading only growing, Marco turned around.

Jean was sitting in a chair, hands bound to the armrests. There was a wild, scared, desperate look in his eyes – the one he had when Marco had first seen him, down in Terra. “Please,” he said slowly.

Marco could feel his father’s eyes burn through his skull. “I…I can’t.”

“Why?” his father’s tone was like a slap to the face.

Marco swallowed tightly, clenching his fists. “He hasn’t done…anything wrong.”

“You know that’s not true.”

“He…he’s my friend.”

“He’s _Unenhanced_! And you will give him what he _deserves_.”

As if he couldn’t control himself, he felt his eye focus in on Jean; he felt his hand twisting the dial. Jean hissed immediately, writhing and throwing his head back. A strangled yelp escaped his throat before he clamped down on his lip to try and contain it. The crackling of his collar could be heard loudly.

Marco was going to be sick. He wanted to turn his dial off but it was as if his body wasn’t under his own control, it was as if he was some sort of puppet. Jean’s body twitched wildly as Marco saw himself turn the dial up again. He let out another yell – this one more like a scream – and he began to thrash wildly.

And then, he looked down, back at Marco. There was a bit of blood running from the corner of his mouth, and the fear had gone from his eyes, replaced with something darker. “See? I didn’t expect anything less from the Enhanced,” he choked out. “I never killed anybody, but then again, I’m not like you, I’m not Enhanced.” Each word felt like a punch to the stomach. “I’m not a _murderer_!”

Marco yelled out. The floor fell from underneath him and suddenly it was back to his usual nightmare, the scene that had haunted his dreams for months. Memories of being pressed down to an operating table and the doctors trying not to panic and yelling about a failed procedure and the sudden pain in his right eye and a blast of light, only this time it was made worse because behind it all, faces swam behind his eyelids. Faces of his father and Ilse and Ymir and his mother and the maid that he killed and Jean yelling and the Unenhanced rioting and the blonde girl he fought with and --

Marco woke up with a yell, panicking when he was caught up in the duvet. He struggled wildly, his breathing rushed and tears in his eye until he slid out of the bed, landing with a thud on the bedroom floor. He stood up immediately, feeling dizzy and sick and too hot, too hot.

His brain felt like it had gone through a food processor before being stuffed back inside his skull. Numbly, he made his way to his window, fumbling for a good minute before managing to open the door out onto his balcony.

He stood at the edge, gripping onto the cool railing. It was much nicer out here, in the early morning air of Caelum. There was nobody on the skywalks, no Skylines or hovercars zooming through the air. The city was asleep, the lights twinkling through the clouds.

Marco focused on his breathing, trying not to think of the remnants of his nightmare. They weren’t unusual, the nightmares, but tonight…tonight had been far worse than usual. He stayed outside, watching his breath fog up in the air in front of him.

He was familiar with nightmares, but not ones like this. He couldn’t help but think about his father. Marco loved his father, he really did, but…lately he was acting more like the head of security than a dad around him. When Marco was younger, they had been somewhat closer. He hadn’t been the head of security back then, and they had spent much more time together, and he was more…relaxed, than he was now. Now, he seemed much more uptight, and strict.

And Marco was beginning to realize that he didn’t like the way things were with the Unenhanced. Sure, they were different, but things were too extreme, and his father was definitely an extremist. That put another wedge in the distance between them.

Marco wasn’t sure how long he stood outside on his balcony for, but he had made up his mind by the time he went inside.

He knew that Jean had a tiny communication device set into his collar. Most of the servants had them. A push of a button would set it off, letting him know that Marco wanted him. Marco had never need to use it before – Jean was by his side nearly all of the time anyway. Now, he rooted through the things on his desk, in his locker, in his drawers, until he found the tiny remote, jamming down on the button.

He wondered how long it would take Jean to come up – he was probably fast asleep. He hadn’t believed Petra when she claimed that he was ill – he had seemed fine earlier. He probably wanted to avoid Marco because of their…previous conversation.

Minutes dragged on by, and Marco pressed the button again.

And again. It seemed like forever had passed, and he still hadn’t come. Surely if he was ill, one of the others would have come up? Marco frowned. He didn’t think that the device could be turned off, unless something was wrong on his end, with the remote. It had been a long time since he had gotten it; maybe the batteries were out of juice? He spent the next ten minutes searching his room for batteries that would fit the tiny remote, when he gave up. It was too damn late for this – he’d just do things the old fashioned way, and get it over with.

Marco had never been in the servants’ quarters before. He knew where they were, of course, but he never had a reason to go down there before. The house was dark enough, but Marco’s eye immediately adjusted to the light, and he was able to navigate down the floors easily.

He crept as quietly as he could down the last flight of stairs, pushing open the door into the servants’ common area. There were a few doors leading out from here. Marco put his ear to each of them, until he heard what he was looking for; heavy, deep breaths and snores.

It was only then that he hesitated.

If he was found here, in the servants’ quarters, he’d be in deep trouble. Why hadn’t he just waited until the morning, when he could tell Jean under normal circumstances?

Normal circumstances, Marco reflected, had been thrown out the window, when it came to him and Jean.

It was too late to turn back now – he was already here, he might as well go through with it.

He slid the door to the dorm open, creeping inside. It was even darker in here, but his enhanced eyes adapted immediately. It was a cramped room; so many beds shoved into every possible space, three or four bunks high. Marco crept as quietly as he could around the room, looking for Jean’s familiar undercut.

It wasn’t too hard to find him. His bed was near the door, on the highest bunk. He slept curled up on his side, the thin blanket twisted around his narrow body. He looked a lot younger when he slept – his face was free of the constant scowl he seemed to have, and the hard edge to his face seemed to have melted away. He was younger than Marco was, he remembered. He was only seventeen. He seemed a lot older sometimes, in the way he acted.

Marco realized that he was staring. He gently reached across (with his flesh and blood hand), and covered Jean’s mouth with his hand. Jean woke immediately, hazel eyes widening at the sight of him. He jerked away, and Marco’s metal hand flew to his shoulder to keep him from moving and making too much noise.

Jean looked scared. He looked at him like a rabbit cornered by a snake. Marco was reminded of his all too vivid nightmare. Slowly, he let go of his shoulder, putting his finger in front of his lips in a gesture to tell him to shut the hell up. He nodded towards the door. Jean nodded.

Marco removed his hand from Jean’s mouth, and slid away, slipping through the bunks and out through the door. Jean wasn’t too far behind him.

“What are you doing here?” he hissed, once they were out in the common room. “I mean – uh, sir.” His hair was sticking up at awkward angles, and Marco couldn’t help but find it endearing. “Why are you here? If someone finds you we’re both gonna be in trou-”

“It couldn’t wait,” Marco interrupted.

Jean looked at him warily. Marco attempted a weak smile. “I don’t think you lied to me. And even if you did – well, I’m not innocent either. I don’t want any more blood on my hands. Your secret…” he sighed heavily, running his steel fingers through his hair. “…Is safe with me.”

It must have taken a few seconds for what he said to register. Slowly, the realization broke across his face. Jean sat down heavily in a nearby chair, rubbing his hand over his face. “What – really?”

Marco sat down in front of him. “Really.”

Jean let the hand fall from his face. He looked…relieved. He let out a deep breath, and Marco cracked a smile. “Thank you, sir,” Jean said, “really. Thank you.”

Marco managed to roll his eyes. “How many times do I have to say it? Drop the sir.”

“Thank you…Marco.”

That took Marco by surprise. He had often asked Jean to stop calling him that – having someone your own age call you “sir” was weird on a lot of different levels – but he had rarely obeyed.

He looked at Jean. Jean always was easy to read. He was relieved; relieved, and thankful. Marco smiled back at him. “A-anytime, Jean.”

Jean looked at him for a moment, studying him as if he was trying to figure Marco out by looking at him. And then, he seemed to snap out of it. “Shit,” he muttered. “If someone wakes up, and finds you in the servants quarters just to talk to me…we’ll be in shit. Especially me.” Jean stood up, and Marco followed his suit.

Jean led him to the door. “You need to go back upstairs,” he said. “And I appreciate what you’ve done, but you shouldn’t come down again, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Si- uh, Marco. Thanks…again. You’re…saving my hide here.”

Marco paused, halfway through the door, to look back at him. “Like I said,” he started. “I don’t want any more blood on my hands. And even if I don’t agree with everything that happened the other night…in the end, you were only protecting your friends, right? Nobody should…nobody should have to be hurt for that. At least, not in my book.”

“I don’t know how many people would agree with you.”

Marco cracked a smile. “You’d be surprised.”

He turned; ignoring Jean’s surprised bordering confused look, and climbed the stairs again.

When he got into his room, he crawled back into bed, and this time, slept peacefully.

♛ ♛ ♛ 

Everyone was discussing the incident at school the next day.

“I don’t think he was Unenhanced,” Connie said, when they were in the canteen. “I mean, there would be no way an Unenhanced would manage that, right? He must have been Enhanced, working for Survey, or something.”

“I don’t know,” Armin said thoughtfully. “I think we underestimate them a bit. It was all planned out, see – he didn’t get away because he was faster or stronger than the guards. He got away because they had a plan.”

Sasha took a break from shoveling food into her mouth. “Was it Survey, then?”

“I don’t think so,” Marco said quietly.

Connie snorted. “Don’t be an idiot – of course it was Survey. Nobody else is insane enough.”

“Think about it though – Survey don’t sneak around. Whenever they do anything, there’s never any doubt that it was them. They always let everyone know it was them, loud and clear.”

Armin nodded. “They’re rebels – they want publicity as much as celebrities.”

Sasha snorted. “Probably more.”

Marco cracked a smile. “You’re probably right. Point is – Survey aren’t gonna pull this type of thing and not own up to it. It’s not their style.”

“And what are you then? An expert on Survey?”

Armin grinned cheekily. “It’s his future _Head of Security_ side coming out,” he teased. Marco rolled his eyes.

“But what I don’t get,” Connie continued, “if it’s not Survey, who the hell was it?”

Marco looked down at his food.

“What if it was Survey – but not Survey?” Sasha piped up.

Connie gave her a look. “She’s finally cracked,” he said sadly. “She was a good friend, if not a little annoying. She will be missed.”

“Shut up Con!” Sasha laughed, nudging him with her elbow. “I mean, what if it was someone – or, people I guess, who are in Survey, but they weren’t ordered to do it?”

Armin tilted his head. “It would make sense, actually,” he said. “I mean, if they were in Survey they’d have the training and knowledge and resources to pull that kind of thing off, but they did it of their own accord, so Survey didn’t take credit for it.”

“Maybe you’re right, but I still don’t get it.” Connie shook his head. “Why would you go through the trouble if you weren’t ordered to do it?”

“I would,” Marco blurted out.

Connie and Sasha exchanged a glance. Armin looked at him strangely. Marco sighed. “Wouldn’t you?”

“Wouldn’t we what?”

“I mean, you saw how it was when we went down to Terra. Remember that man? Whipped and left hanging by his wrists? If that was one of your friends, you’d want to help them too, right?”

Connie chuckled. “You’ve changed your tune. When we were down you were saying he deserved it.”

“I have changed my tune. I-” Marco cut himself off.

“Go on,” Armin encouraged.

“Don’t you think things are a little unfair?” Marco asked, lowering his voice. “I mean – I know that they’re different and I know the stories about them, but sometimes the rules seem…a little harsh.”

Connie and Sasha exchanged another glance. They did that a lot – it was almost like they were the same mind split into two bodies. Marco wondered wildly for a moment if they had an Enhancement that allowed them to communicate telepathically.

After a moment, Connie laughed a little. “Talk about sweet and sour, bro. One minute you’re saying they deserve the shit they get, the next you’re on their side.”

“I never said I was on their side!” Marco protested.

“Is this about the riot?” Armin asked. Marco looked at him. “What?”

“You’ve never brought this up before,” he said. “But since the riot you’ve seemed…off.”

Marco shrugged. “I guess. I mean, you two weren’t there, but seeing them riot…I guess it kind of woke me up? Things are too harsh, too extreme, I think. What about you?”

It was rare to see Connie and Sasha at a loss for words. “I guess?” Sasha ventured. “I mean, I guess I never really thought about it before.”

“Me neither,” Connie added.

“Ymir agrees,” Marco said, so he didn’t seem like a madman. “But she says not to talk about it until I actually have some power of my own.”

Connie nodded, glancing around and leaning in. “Yeah. Like, we’re not gonna be spreading this around, but you need to keep an eye out for yourself. If someone overheard you going on about this, you could get in trouble if they told.”

Marco frowned. “Who would tell?”

Connie’s eyes travelled somewhere off to Marco’s left. Marco glanced over his shoulder before looking back. “Thomas?”

Connie nodded darkly. “He’s been angry at you since that time at your house. Remember? You got pissed at him for hitting your servant, and he felt…”

“I overheard him telling Nack that he felt you tried to humiliate him in front of everyone,” Sasha said. “And that he wouldn’t stand for it.”

“You need to watch your back around him, man.”

Marco scoffed. “What can he do?”

“Not much, but…” Armin glanced at him. “Y’know Marlowe?”

“Marlowe Freudenberg?”

“Yeah. Someone told the MP that he was going on about rights for the Unenhanced. Nothing major happened, but he was taken away…for a talk. And he’s been much quieter since he came back.”

“Exactly. And if the security department got wind of this? They wouldn’t be keen on you.”

“Alright, alright!” Marco shook his head. “I appreciate the warnings, but I can look after myself fine, thanks.”

“If you say so,” Connie muttered.

♛ ♛ ♛ 

Marco met Armin outside the school gates. “Where are the terrible twins?” he asked. Armin smiled. “They have practice today, remember? Where’s Ymir?”

Marco smirked. “She’s too busy walking Historia home to bother with us lowlifes.”

They began walking in companionable silence. Marco liked Armin. He wasn’t like Connie and Sasha; talking a mile a minute, always going one hundred miles an hour. He enjoyed his company just as much, though.

“I was wondering,” Armin said. “Can we walk all the way, instead of taking the Skyline? I want to talk to you about something.”

A little confused, Marco nodded. They walked in silence for a few more minutes, until the crowds of teenagers thinned out. They had left the busier streets and skywalks behind, now walking along the smaller, quieter ones.

Armin stopped walking abruptly. Marco walked for a few more steps before noticing, and he turned around to see him bending over to pick something up. Armin showed him his hand. On his palm, a few loose coins were resting.

“They must have fallen out of someone’s pocket,” he said. “They probably got stuck to the skywalk from the magnetism.” Armin leaned against the railing, and Marco joined him, looking down. He couldn’t see very far; below was a sprawling mix of skywalks and buildings, a mass of hovercars and Skylines passing, all mixed up in fluffy white cloud. Marco could just about make out some of the buildings in Terra.

Armin threw the coins over the railing. Marco raised an eyebrow as they watched them fall.

“With any luck,” Armin began. “They won’t get stuck to a skywalk again, and they’ll go straight down to Terra. It’s loose change to us, but I’m sure it’s worth a lot more to some poor Unenhanced people.”

“Wait,” Marco straightened up, studying Armin’s face.

“I agree with what you said, y’know,” Armin said, breaking the silence. “About the Unenhanced. They’re treated way too unfairly, for no real reason. Things need to change.”

Marco was relieved, to say the least. Relieved that he wasn’t the only one of his friends that felt like this. “How do we change things, though?”

“We can’t, not really. We’re still too young – we don’t know everything.” Armin sighed.

Marco looked at him carefully. “There’s something you’re not telling me,” he said slowly.

Armin played with the end of his blond locks. “I found something out,” he said. “And you’re not going to like it.” He turned to Marco, his blue eyes piercing. “What do you know about how the Enhanced came to be?”

Marco was confused by the question. “What everyone knows,” he answered. “Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years ago, there were two groups of Men, who tried to live together in harmony. One of the groups always did their best; they worked hard and tried hard, they tried to keep the peace with the other group, they were the ones who did the hard labor and protected everyone else. They were good and strong and hardworking, and as the years went on, they grew stronger. The other group was lazy and scheming and greedy and bloodthirsty, and as the years went on, they became less evolved than the others. And then the first group became Enhanced; their knowledge made them even stronger. But because they were more evolved than the second group, the others couldn’t Enhance. Because of their own laziness and other sins, they were stuck as second rate humans. The Unenhanced.”

Armin laughed. “Bullshit.”

Marco frowned. “What do you mean, bullshit? It’s the truth. Open any history book, that’s what it says, in different words. Everyone knows the story.”

“The story,” Armin said, “is a lie.”

Marco could feel his heart beginning to race. For a moment, he felt almost dizzy. “It can’t be a lie,” he said. “The Enhanced are better humans than the Unenhanced, so when we’re born, we’re able to get our Enhancements. Everyone knows it; even little kids. It’s a fact.”

Armin sighed tiredly. “You know I love history, right? Well, someone working in the Archives owes my grandfather a favor, so I’m allowed to go in and look through the documents. A while ago, I read a statistic that less Enhanced were joining the Military Police every year. But the Military Police isn’t getting any smaller. I was curious. So one day, I was going through the records. I looked up someone in my family; my grandfather’s grandfather, because he was in the MP, and I figured it was as good a place as any to start.”

Armin was silent. “I looked up my family tree, went back six generations and found him. Turns out, his father had been in the MP, and his father before him. But then, before that? Nothing.”

Marco frowned. “Nothing?”

“Nothing. There’s no record of anything before him, he just suddenly turns up as a Policeman. And I decided to look up some other families to compare. I looked up the Bodts and the Brauses and the Springers, and all of their family trees go back much, much farther. But my ancestor couldn’t just appear from nowhere, right?”

“Right…”

“And before that, there were no Arlerts in the Enhanced records. And well…I had been told not to go near the Unenhanced records, but there was nobody around at that point. So I looked up the Arlerts in the Unenhanced records…and I found them. Going way back – they were Enhanced. And then the Unenhanced Arlert line suddenly ends with “Alfred Arlert – Enhanced and moved to the MP.” I look up the Military Police record of that year, and suddenly an Alfred Arlert was there.”

Marco was silent for a long moment. “How can that be?”

“My family was Unenhanced,” Armin said, gripping the railing tightly. “Until one day, they Enhanced one of them, and ever since, the rest of the family has been Enhanced. I looked up some of the newer records of the Policemen. It’s a pattern, Marco – there are less Enhanced joining the MP, so they look for the Unenhanced. The ones who are loyal, the ones who are desperate for a better life, then they Enhance them. And they Enhanced their children. A few generations later, they end up in Caelum and nobody realizes that their ancestors were Unenhanced.”

Marco shook his head. “That’s impossible – the Unenhanced can’t deal with Enhancements, their bodies never evolved enough to-”

“Yes, they did,” Armin said quietly. “There is no difference between an Unenhanced baby and an Enhanced baby. But there’s a class divide, so one gets a collar and the other gets Enhanced senses and abilities. That’s all there is to it, Marco.”

“But…we were always told that it was their own fault they were Unenhanced, these were facts, not Enhancing them was a kindness because their bodies wouldn’t be able to handle it-”

“They were all lies, Marco,” Armin said again. “I wish I didn’t find out, but I did. They were lies to stop us from asking questions, lies so we wouldn’t care that they were treated cruelly because Enhancements or not, we were still better than them.”

“But we’re not. Not really.”

Armin hesitated. “And if they’ve been feeding all of those lies to us, they’re probably feeding us many more.” Marco looked sharply at him. “We’re being kept in the dark, Marco. I’m sure of it. They don’t want us finding out this type of stuff, because the more we know—”

“The more we’ll want change,” Marco finished.

♛ ♛ ♛ 

“Something wrong, sir?”

“Marco.”

“Something wrong, Marco?” Jean corrected himself.

Marco sighed. “Armin found out some shit a while back,” he said. “Shit about the Unenhanced. He told me today.”

Jean frowned. “What did he find out?”

Marco hesitated. “Ever since I was a kid, I was taught that the Enhanced were completely different beings to the Unenhanced. Like, Enhanced abilities aside. Even without them we were better than them, because we were two completely different sets of people. But it was a lie, wasn’t it? We’re the same, really. The only difference is that there’s a huge class divide, that the Enhanced are keeping the Unenhanced the way they are so we can take advantage of them and rule them.”

Jean was silent for a few moments. “I never really believed them,” he admitted. “I mean, people always told us that we were less than your lot, but really --” Marco looked at him. “If it wasn’t for the metal in your arm and the metal around my neck, would you know any better?” Marco nodded.

“I feel even worse now. People up here…we always acted as if we have the divine right to rule, or something. And I always believed that. That we were meant to rule over the Unenhanced, that it was right – I believed it completely. Everyone I know believes it completely.”

Jean looked at him cautiously, as if he wasn’t sure what to make of the whole situation. “But you know better now?”

Marco nodded. His mouth was dry, and he felt faintly sick. “Besides. If the government has been lying about that to us, what other things are they lying to us about?” He stood up, moving to his window. He went outside to his balcony, looking at the city spread in front of him.

Maybe he was over reacting, but he didn’t think that he was. When you were brought up to believe something, and everyone around you believed it too, when you found out it was a lie, it was quite…jarring, no matter how trivial.

And this definitely wasn’t trivial. This was a lie let people think they had the right to abuse the Unenhanced, to treat them with cruelty, to kill them on a whim.

Before, Marco had thought that the situation with the Unenhanced was…a little extreme and unfair.

Now, he knew it was wrong.

Jean joined him on the balcony. _If it wasn’t for the metal in your arm and the metal around my neck, would you know any better?_ No, he wouldn’t. He could almost pretend Jean was one of them. There wasn’t anything drastically different about him. He was a human, like Marco, he had hopes and thoughts and dreams and a family and worries and…

They were the same, really.

“I want to help,” Marco found himself saying. “I don’t know why I never saw it before.” He turned his back on the city, and faced Jean. “I want to help people like you. I want to help the Unenhanced.”

Jean frowned a little. “With all due respect, Marco, you can’t help us. You don’t know the half of what goes on down there. You don’t know what it’s like.”

Marco clenched his fists. “Then teach me what it’s like. Help me to help you.”

Jean shook his head, taking a step back. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but there’s not much I can do. The only way for you to know what it’s like would be to experience Terra for yourself. And for real, from our point of view, not on some shitty school tour.”

Marco looked away, deep in thought. The cogs in his mind were beginning to spin already. Jean narrowed his eyes slightly. A plan was already forming in Marco’s mind, and he grinned.

“It’s settled, then,” he said. “I’m going to have to do just that.”

“What?”

“Experience Terra for myself, as one of the Unenhanced.”

“Wha-”

“Think about it! In a few weeks, there’s a holiday up here. The King’s birthday. We get the week off school. Meanwhile, my friend Connie? His uncle owns a huge farm, a plantation, just out of the city. His family go there for the week every year. And I’ve gone with them a few times. I’ll get him to cover for me, I’ll tell my family I’m going with him and that you’re coming with me, but I’ll disguise myself as one of the Unenhanced and spend the days down in Terra with you!”

Jean raised his hands. “Did you hit your head? Are you sick? Because this is plain crazy! I don’t even have words to describe it! You’ll get yourself in huge trouble, and me killed!”

Marco tried to give a reassuring smile. “Only if we’re caught. And we won’t be! I’ll…wear a scarf, as if I’m wearing a collar and I’ll wear a long sleeve and glove to hide my arm and nobody will know any different!”

“Why do you even care? It doesn’t even affect you.” Jean asked, exasperated.

“Because, Jean. It’s wrong how you all are being treated. And the people up here think it’s right, because they don’t know any better. Change needs to happen – but it’s like you said yourself. I can’t do anything because I don’t know what it’s like. I need to experience it for myself – and then maybe, I can start to help to change things.”

He met Jean’s eyes. If he refused, Marco was prepared to order him to do it.

Jean dropped his gaze, sighing. “Fine. You’re going to get me killed one of these days, Marco Bodt.”

“Wait – so you’ll do it?” Marco broke into a grin.

Jean threw his hands into the air. “What choice do I have?” he asked, sounding frustrated, but he was smiling a little too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello i'm still alive  
> uploading this with shaky net was an adventure  
> the length of these chapters is really fluctuating jesus christ  
> thank you!!! all!!!! for kudos and bookmarks and comments and everything they're really appreciated and make me smile like a fool so thank u all for being supportive u_u  
> i probably made a ton of typos ngl so if u spot a mistake feel free to point it out  
> would love to hear what u think!  
> thats all for now i think....stay groovy....

**Author's Note:**

> for shingekis and writing stuff and fanmixes hmu on my [tumblr](http://www.suppportingcharacters.tumblr.com)  
> ya tumblrs cool but im usually way more active on [twitter](https://twitter.com/scharacters)


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